Spider-Man and Batman: Origin Of A Bond
by multipleman72
Summary: When Spider-Man interrupts a deal that costs Black Mask a ton of money, a bounty is put on his head along with Batman on Christmas Eve. Can the two of them work together and live through this deadly holiday?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Hello! Welcome to my new story! Hope you like it! Please review!**

**Prologue**

It was night time in the city of Gotham. The city was filled with citizens and cars roaming its streets. It seemed as if the whole city was alive. However, there was something unusual about this day, there seemed to be a certain wall crawler swinging around.

Spider-Man was swinging from building to building in Gotham. This wasn't his city but he was here for a reason. To find someone called Batman.

_Why is Jameson asking me to take pictures of this so called Batman? It's three days away till Christmas! He might not even exist. _Spiderman thought to himself.

Apparently, J. Jonah Jameson had heard of someone in Gotham named Batman. He demanded that Peter Parker go to Gotham and get pictures of him or else he's fired. Currently he was swinging around with his camera to look for him.

It wasn't the only reason why he was here. He heard that some of Scorpion's men were moving a shipment into Gotham. Why they were doing this, he wasn't sure.

While Spider-Man was swinging around, he noticed some strange looking people waiting outside a building. They were dressed in black and wore black masks over their faces. Spiderman decided to get closer and investigate.

"Jeez, it's cold. Why can't we be inside too?" said one of the men.

"Would you stop complaining? We're out here to make sure no interrupts the deal." said the other thug.

"Who's gonna do that? No else knows about the deal." Said the first thug.

"You're right, but we're here to make sure no one might have caught wind of it. Now stop whining and keep watch." Said the second thug.

"Whatever." The first thug said with a groan.

_Looks like Batman will have to wait, time to do some investigating. _Spider-Man thought.

Spider-Man webbed his camera onto the wall, then dropped down in front of the two men. "Hey guys, how's it going?" He said.

"What the? Who's this freak?!" Said one of the thugs.

"It's that Spider guy! Get him!" Shouted the other thug.

One of the thugs tried to punch Spider-Man but he stepped to the side and countered with a knee to the gut followed by an uppercut that sent the thug in the air until Spiderman pulled him to the ground with his webs. The thug hit the ground with a loud thud, knocking him out.

The other thug tried to grab Spider-man, but Spider-Man grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder onto the ground. Then he jumped high into the air and landed on the thugs stomach, and webbed him to the floor.

"These guys never change, do they?" Spider-Man quipped.

Spider-Man tried to open the door the thugs were guarding but found it locked.

_I'll have to find another way in _Spider-man thought to himself.

As he looked around the building, he saw an air vent he could use. He grabbed his camera and webbed the front of it and pulled down, tearing it off. Spider-Man then entered, crawling through the tight space. When he reached the end. He found himself on a platform just above the floor, where there seemed to be a deal with 2 different groups were exchanging money for weapons.

"Lets see if this is even worth the money." said a thug who wore a jacket with a penguin logo on the back.

"Don't worry, Black Mask's a man of his word." Said another thug who just like the men outside, was wearing a black mask and a black suit.

_So the guys in black work for someone named Black Mask? What about these other guys? _Spidey pondered.

"We'll see, because if they aren't Penguin won't be pleased with your boss." Said the Black Mask thug.

_Oh. well that was fast. Alright time to crash the party. _Spidey thought

Spider-Man webbed his camera to the wall and jumped off of the platform and on top of one of the Black Mask thugs knocking him out. Everyone reeled back in shock.

"Hey everyone! I heard that there was a Halloween convention here. Is this it?" Spider-Man asked.

"Who the hell is this guy?!" Someone shouted.

"Who cares? Let's kill him!" Shouted someone else.

"I mean it's weird that everyone's dressed in costumes and it's almost Christmas, but hey who am I to judge?" Spidey said as he jumped over a thug who charged at him.

All of a sudden, a window shattered as someone leapt through it. Everyone stopped what they were doing to see who it was. It was someone wearing a heavily armored suit that looked like a bat.

"Oh great, who is it now?" A thug complained.

"I-It's Batman! Take him out!" Another thug shouted.

_Wait. THIS is Batman? I thought Jameson was pulling my leg! _Spidey thought before his spidey senses went off. One of Penguin's men tried to punch him from behind before Spider-Man dodged it and kicked him into a nearby wall.

Spider-Man and Batman took on all the men in the building. Knocking them out with their combat and tools.

When Spider-Man knocked out the last guy, he walked up to Batman and said "Hey, thanks f-" before he was grabbed by the neck by Batman and lifted him into the air.

"Who are you?! " He shouted, but then Spider-Man brought his feet onto Batman's stomach and kicked off of him and did a backflip.

"Whoa! Easy! I'm not a threat! I came here to stop this." Spidey said as he landed on the ground.

Batman glared at him, but he dropped his guard and said nothing. Spidey could feel the awkward silence and decided to break it " I'm Spider-Man. I guessing your Batman?"

"What are you doing in _my_ city?" Batman questioned him.

He knew he couldn't tell Batman why he was really here. He looked like someone you don't want to mess with. Plus if he explained that he needed a picture of him, it would come off as creepy

He knew he had to use his other excuse. "An enemy of mine ordered a shipment here, I was looking for possible locations when I came across this place." He explained.

Batman just glared at him until he said, "When your done, leave my city. I don't need any more problems."

When he finished speaking, he turned to -Man soon realized he still needed a picture.

He quickly grabbed his camera with his webs, and got a picture of him while his back was turned.

_Thank God the flash was off. _Spidey thought as he left the building as well. When he looked at the picture, he realized that it was was out of focus. _Great. just great. _He thought as he groaned.

* * *

"Do you realized how much money I lost!" Shouted A man wearing a white suit and black mask said as he walked around the thug.

I'm sorry boss! This guy in a Spider suit beat up everyone at the deal! Even that Bat guy showed up!" Said one of the Black Mask thugs. He was meeting his boss in his office in the Sionis Steel Mill.

"Oh that's okay. All is forgiven." He said as he stopped walking.

"R-Really?" The thug asked.

"No" He said as he pulled out a pistol and shot him. Then Black Mask started to laugh hysterically. Then he picked up a newspaper with Spider-Man on the front page.

"So this Spider-Man wants to interfere in my business? I think my assassins need a second target." Black Mask said as he put the newspaper down and looked at pictures of potential assassins for Christmas Eve.


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello Everyone! I apologize for slow updates. Lot of stuff going on in my life. This chapter will start on Christmas Eve. Without further adieu, let's get started! I don't own Spider-Man or Batman Arkham Origins.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

On a snowy Christmas Eve, In a dark cave, a large group of bats hanging upside down on the ceiling. One bat crawls over to a noise it hears by the entrance. All of a sudden, Bruce Wayne enters the cave, alerting the bats and making them fly around the cave in alarm. Following the batch of scurrying bats, Wayne walks into the main room of the cave, the trail ending off with the bats diving down into the darkened chasm.

"Police and emergency services are urging Gotham residents to stay off the roads in in their homes tonight in light of the severe winter storm warning." Came a voice from the radio.

On a monitor nearby, a news reporter named Vickie Vale was interviewing Bruce Wayne." No man's an island, Bruce. You've been back for almost two years now, you can't expect me to believe that Gotham's most eligible bachelor is spending another Christmas alone." She said with disbelief in her voice.

"You just ran out of time" Bruce said as he walked off camera. In the back, you could hear a voice say, "Well, so much for that." It belonged to a man named Peter Parker, who was trying to get a view pictures of Bruce Wayne, but he left before Peter could get one picture.

Bruce then switches the channel to another interview of the GCPD.

"...knowing that tonight, we put to rest one of Gotham's most heinous and relentless killers, Julian Gregory Day." Says Commissioner Loeb as he is being arrested.

"Commissioner Loeb! Any comment on the rumor that it actually wasn't the cops who captured Mr. Day?" Asked a reporter.

Gordon then appears on camera, "There is no such thing as a 'bat man.'"

All the reporters start shouting at once, "Captain Gordon! Captain Gordon!" "Commissioner Loeb!"

"No further questions, no further questions." Said Loeb trying to calm the crowd.

Over the radio, someone is saying, "All units, all units! Code ten at Blackgate Prison! Communication is down, possible 2-11."

The faithful butler of the Waynes, Alfred, walks in and sets a platter down. A picture of the Waynes reflecting off of it.

"Delta 6-4, en route." says a voice over the radio.

"Dispatch, 5-9, confirm code 10- this a break out?" says another voice.

"Suspect identified as "Black Mask". Repeat: code 10 suspect is Black Mask. Commissioner Loeb is being held captive, repeat, Commissioner Loeb is 701." Came the same female voice as before as Black Mask's profile came up on the Batcomputer.

Alfred watches as Bruce waits for his glass encased costume holder to arise from the ground, revealing an armored, black and grey batsuit. Bruce shoves his hands into the gloves, clips his belt, assembles his grapple gun, and adjusts his mask before setting his jet to activate via a control node on his gauntlet and marches towards the Batwing. It arises, reading for Batman to enter as he approaches it.

"You do realize, it is Christmas Eve, sir?" Alfred said over the jet engines.

Batman ignores Alfred and got into a scooter like chair, and let's it arise into the Batwing with him, reading for launch. The Batwing moves around and zooms out of the batcave through a waterfall.

Elsewhere, another hero is receiving news of the breakout now.

* * *

_Man, I knew cops could be corrupt, but not THIS corrupt. _Spider-Man thought as he looked at the scene before him.

Spidey had found the shipment, and it seemed like the cops were making a deal with Scorpion's men. Some of the GCPD officers had gotten greedy with their weapons in the department and had tried to get the weapons for themselves. Spider-Man had intervened with the deal, and interrogated one of Scorpion's men on what they were doing in Gotham. The thug told him everything. He said half the shipment was here and the other half was already gone. When he was done, Spidey knocked him out cold.

All of a sudden, the radio went off in one of the cars the cops had driven here, "All units, all units! Code ten at Blackgate Prison! Communication is down, possible 2-11."

Spider-Man went up to the car, and grabbed the radio through the open windshield to listen.

"Delta 6-4, en route." says a voice.

"Dispatch, 5-9, confirm code 10- this a break out?" says another voice.

"Suspect identified as "Black Mask", repeat: code 10 suspect is Black Mask. Commissioner Loeb is being held captive, repeat, Commissioner Loeb is 701." Said the same voice from earlier.

_Blackgate? Prison riot? I've got to get down there! _Spider-Man thought as he took off in the direction of the prison. _Good thing they tell you where everything is on the tour._

* * *

When Spidey got there, the whole place seemed to be on lock down.

_I need to find a way in, think Spidey, think. _He thought as we swung around the prison.

He then saw a drone smash through a window into the prison. _What's that doing here? _Spider-Man thought as he entered through the same window as the drone.

Following the drone wasn't easy. Spider-Man was always running into escaping prisoners and he would lose the drone sometimes.

He then spotted the drone. _There you are. _He said to himself as he began running. When he was a few feet away from the drone, it stopped moving and Spidey was just one foot away from it, when he turned his head to see Batman.

"What are you doing here?" Batman demanded.

"I could say the same about you." Spidey said, but was responded with Batman narrowing his eyes and looking more angry. "Look. I heard there was a prison riot over a police radio. I came here to stop it."

Batman was silent before saying "Leave, I can handle this and I don't need your help."

"No. I get that this is your city, but that won't stop me from doing the right thing. I'm not here to ask for your permission. I'm here to arrest Black Mask and stop the prisoners from escaping. I'm staying whether you like it or not. Now, can we work together or am I doing this alone?" Spider-Man stated.

"Fine, but you do exactly as I say." Batman said after a few moments of silence.

While the two were arguing, the drone had moved forward a bit. They began to walk toward it until it broke through a window above them.

Then the prisoners were released from their cells. Batman and Spider-Man both got ready for a fight. Batman began to let loose multiple strikes on two prisoners, Spiderman had sent the third prisoner flying into the gate that had closed behind them. When the prisoner got his bearings back, he was greeted with strikes to his face before Spidey drop kicked him into the gate, knocking him Spider-man turned around, he saw one prisoner knocked out and the other was getting jumped on top of and punched hard in the face.

_The only way to advance is to grapple up and over this gate. we should hurry. _Batman thought. He looked at Spidey and said, "Can you get over this?"

Spidey said. "Can I? Just watch me." Then Spider-Man used his webs to pull himself up onto the ledge and crawl through the space. "Do you need help?" He said slyly.

Batman took out his grapnel gun to get onto the ledge and onto the other side and walked past Spider-Man. "I guess not." Spidey said quietly.

"Please! I can't take anymore!" said the guard.

"If you take Black Mask's money, you do what he says. If you give him lip, this is what happens." says the heavily armored thug.

Batman and Spider-Man look ahead to see a large, reptilian like man throwing another security guard across the room with his mouth.

"What is that?" Said Spider-Man, but was met with no answer.

The man, Killer Croc, walks away and out of the room after wiping his mouth.

"But...he's...he's gone crazy!" said the terrified guard.

"Talk like that is what gotcha in this mess in the first place." The thug said before noticing Batman and Spider-Man and got ready for a fight.

Batman just stunned him with his cape and attacked him with multiple punches before knocking him out with a head butt.

"Don't hurt me! Please!" Said the guard.

The two of them ascend to the ledge above them and walked through the door when it opened. In front of them was a metal door that looked beaten and scratched.

"Let me out! Do you know who I am?" Came a female voice from behind the door.

"This is Vicki Vale, reporting live from Mike's underpants!" Came a male voice from the other side of the door.

One of the other men start to laugh. "On second thought, you can leave me in the cell. I'm fine here, thanks." She said with a scared voice.

After Batman used a batarang to activate the button that opens the sealed door, Batman and Spider-Man slide into a room filled with thugs. Inside of a cell near the thugs are hostages, including Vicki Vale.

"It's them!" Said a thug when the two heroes entered.

"We gotta run!" Said another.

"We gotta stay and fight." Said a thug who had tried to punch Spider-Man but had ducked and countered with some punches and kicks to the head and threw him into another thug. Batman had grabbed one thug by the arm and flipped him onto the ground and then broke his arm. Another thug had tried to punch Batman, but he countered it by picking up and over his shoulders and then sending him flying with a kick to the back.

"Is that...it's him...it's really him. Who's that other guy? Are we safe in here?" Vicki asked. While the two were fighting Black Mask's men.

"How should I know?" Said a cameraman in the same cell as her.

"I think that's the guy from New York. Spider-Man!" Said the other cameraman.

"What if they comes for us? We need to get prepared." Vicki said.

"Relax. I heard on the news they only hurt criminals." Said one of the cameramen.

"And you believe everything on the news?" Vicki questioned.

When the two had finished beating up everyone, Spider-Man and Batman moved over to the elevator and pressed the button to open the gate. There was nothing but a weak floor below them.

"Who is he?" Vicki whispered.

"Great. We're at a dead end, what now?" Spidey asked as he stepped on to the weak floor.

"That area of the floor is weak. I can use my explosive gel to break through." Batman told Spider-Man as he dropped down on to the floor and started to spray a bat symbol with explosive gel on it.

"You're what?" Spidey said before Batman dentenated the floor.

Batman landed on the floor without much trouble while Spider-Man tumbled on the floor a bit before stopping.

"You couldn't have given me a heads up?" Spider-Man said with irritation in his voice.

"Quiet." He said as he moved towards the window behind Spider-Man.

They looked down through the window to see Killer Croc, Black Mask, and Blackgate prisoners. Killer Croc picks up a prison guard and slams him down on to the floor.

"They say crime doesn't pay. But someone oughtta check the good police commissioner's pockets. 'Cause they are LINED with MY money."

Croc pulls out Loeb and forces him to face towards Black Mask with a group of following prisoners surrounding them, cheering them on.

"And what have I got to show for it? My own men in the slammer? Not no more. No, tonight, we're makin' some changes. Some big changes."

Killer Croc pushes Loeb through a door and out of view with Black Mask leaving the room.

"You're a dead man walking, Loeb!" One of the prisoners shouted.

_This isn't going to be easy. _Spidey thought as he and Batman watched some of the prisoners started to leave the area while others were staying.


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hey Guys! Here's the next chapter! Please review! Sorry this took so long.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

As Spider-Man was looking through the glass, Batman was attempting to rip the vent off the wall.

"What are you doing?" Spider-Man asks as he watches Batman rip off the vent and place it on the wall.

"It's our only way to move forward, now follow me." He responded.

As they crawled the the air duct, they could hear the prisoners talking.

"You heard the man, tonight's our night!" Said one of the prisoners.

"That's right, he's gonna kill Loeb tonight!" Said another.

" 'Bout time he got what he deserves"

"Hell yeah it is!"

"Now, listen up. Black Mask let us out, so the way I see it, we owe him one. Let's clear this place of guards so he can make a clean escape." Suggested one of the prisoners.

"You could do that. Me? I'm outta here. An' knockin over the first liquor store I see." Said one of the prisoners.

Before another word could be said. Batman and Spider-Man dropped down onto the floor while Batman landed on one of the prisoners.

"Hey, I didn't sign up for gettin' my ass kicked!" said a prisoner as he saw the two heroes.

"I can't believe this!" Shouted another prisoner before Spider-Man delivered a punch to his face.

"Hey, let us back in our cells!" Screamed one of the prisoners.

One prisoner had ran over to a nearby fire extinguisher and picked up. He threw right at Spider-Man while he was distracted. Luckily, his spider senses kicked in and used his webs to catch it.

"I think you dropped this!" Spidey said as he twirled it in the air and flung it at the prisoner.

Spidey then jumped in the air and did a web kick to two of the prisoners. Batman was giving one prisoner multiple strikes to the chest and face when one of the other prisoners tried to punch him. Batman ducked it and elbowed him in the face, knocking him out. He then grabbed the prisoner from before by the leg and broke it.

"Black Mask'll see you both DEAD! You hear me!? Shouted the Black Mask thung once he reached the gate and closed it.

Spidey webbed one of the criminals to the wall, making him unable to move. He then jumped on top of one of the criminals head and slammed his foot onto his skull, sending him crashing to the floor. When the last prisoner tried to punch him, he jumped behind him and delivered a spinning kick to the back of his skull, knocking him to the floor. The prisoner was dazed until Spiderman delivered the final blow and punched him in the face to knock him out.

"You two ain't gettin' past me." Said the Black Mask thug once everyone was knocked out by the two heroes.

"Do you have a plan?" Spider-Man asked Batman when he saw there was no way through the gate.

Batman didn't respond, but he saw an opened cell with a vent and it gave him an idea.

"Over here." Batman said to Spider-Man. Then Batman pulled out his Batclaw and fired at the vent and ripped it off the wall.

_Looks like I'm not the only one who makes their own gear _Spidey thought. "How many tools do you have?" Spidey asked as he and Batman climbed up to the vent.

Spidey was met with no response. _Not much of a talker, is he? _He thought.

"Good. Looks like I scared them off." Said a voice from the other side of the wall in front of them.

Batman walked over to the wall and sprayed his explosive gel on it. He backed up a few steps before detonating it. Sending the mobster flying.

The two heroes moved forward to the execution chamber access. Batman throws two Batarangs at two buttons next to the door in front of them. Once it opened, Spidey shot a web at the vent above them and pulled it off the wall. They both climbed up to the vent. While they were crawling, they could hear Black Mask talking.

"Part of me wants to just flip that switch, but it is Christmas Eve...and he is the Calendar Man...and that's just too perfect to ignore.

The two of them stopped to listen and see through the opening in the vent. They saw Black Mask and his men in the executioner room with Calendar Man.

"You're going to owe me for this Julian and that could be...useful."

"Uh, sir, what do we do about Loeb?" Asked one of Black Mask's men.

"Bring him in. Bring him in!" He said.

The two heroes started moving again and dropped down from the vent into what appeared to be an spectate room of the execution chamber. Through the glass, they could see what was happening.

Loeb was dragged into the room and thrown onto the floor.

"What's this about, Sionis? Haven't I always come through to you?" Loeb asked as Killer Croc picked him up off the ground.

"You may have, Gillian. But things have changed. We're starting with a clean slate. And you're not on it." Black Mask said.

"What are you talking about? I'm not on it?! After all I've done for you!" Loeb questioned as he was dragged into the gas chamber by BLack Mask's men.

They threw him to the floor of the chamber, then closed the door and locked it.

Loeb began to panic, "You can't do this! I'm the police commissioner, dammit!" He shouted as he banged on the glass of the door. Both Spider-Man and Batman tried to break the glass, but even with Spidey's strength, he was only able to crack the glass a little.

The gas was released and Loeb started to choke before he collapsed to the ground and died.

"Show's over, boys. Let's go." Black Mask says as he and his men leave the room.

For no apparent reason whatsoever, Killer Croc whacks one of Black Mask's men, causing him to slam into the glass and almost breaks it.

_What did he do that for? _Spidey thought, deeply confused with what he saw.

After they exit, Batman and Spider-Man dive through the cracked glass.

_We're too late. Commissioner Loeb is dead. Black Mask has a lot to answer for. _Batman thought.

Suddenly, Black Mask's men ran into the room.

"It's the Bat and that Spider guy! We're never getting out of here!" Said one of the mobsters.

"We gotta try!" Said another that tried to kick Batman but his leg was caught and got an elbow to the face.

Spider-Man went after the thug that was wearing body armor. He tied the mobster arms to his sides with his webs and then proceeded to attack with multiple strikes to his body and stomach before finishing him with a roundhouse kick to his face.

Batman had blocked a kick from one of the mobsters then kicked him in the stomach, then sent him halfway across the room with a kick to the side of his head. Then he jumped over to the other mobster and kicked him in the stomach and knocked him out. Then he went back to the other thug who was still on the ground,and knocked him out by hitting him hard on the back of his head.

Once they were done, the two heroes walked to the security corridor. Once they were about to exit, the ground started to shake and the two heroes stumbled back a bit.

_What just happened?_ Thought Spider-Man.

They walked through the door in front of them. As soon as they entered, they heard voices above them.

"I told you to grab the memory card!" Shouted a voice that sounded like Black Mask.

"You wanted it smashed, so I smashed it!" Came another voice that was assumed to be Killer Croc's.

The two of them see the drone from before destroyed on the ground. Batman walks over to and crouches down to pick up what looks like a memory card.

"It had better be, or the next thing that gets smashed WILL BE YOUR FACE!" Shouted Black Mask.

Croc growls and then everything is quiet until they hear a helicopter in the distance.

"How does it look?" Spider-Man asked Batman.

"The memory card is damaged, but I should be able to recover most of the data back at the Batcave." He replies.

"Where?" Says Spider-Man says, confused of what he's talking about.

"No time to explain, we got to hurry." Batman says as he takes out his Grapnel Gun and grapples up to the ledge above them as Spidey followed. Then the two climb up a ladder that leads to the roof.

The two of them see Black Mask get in a helicopter and fly off with some of his men. Then a second helicopter lands and picks more of Black Mask's men. Killer Croc is about to follow when he picks up two scents. He gestures for the pilot to leave. Once it left, Batman and Spider-Man dropped down behind Croc.

"Thought I caught your scents" He said over his shoulder while walking towards a propane tank.

"I know I caught yours" Batman says"

"Yeah, when's the last time you took a bath?" Spidey asked.

Croc then rips the propane tank off the ground and threw it at the two of them, but both of them duck under it. The tank exploded once it hit the wall leaving a fiery mess behind them as the two get ready for a fight.

Croc laughs before running over to them and tries to swipe at them. They both roll out of the way and then Batman stuns Croc with his cape and begins to strike him. Then Batman grabs his head and slammed it onto the ground. Croc then slams his hand onto the ground trying to knock back Batman but he had already rolled out of the way.

"Let's add some fuel to this fight. Says Croc as jumps over to a propane tank and begins to rip it off its hinges as a helicopter brings in Black Mask's men.

Spider-Man deals with the thugs while Batman throws his Batarangs at the tank and makes it explode. Batman again stuns him with his cape and attacks him with multiple strikes. He then tries to slam his face into the ground again but Croc catches him by the leg and throws him to the ground. Croc tries bite Batman but Batman is able to grab his face and stop him.

Once Spidey taken down the men, he saw that Batman was in trouble and ran over to them. He web kicks Croc on the side of the face, and makes him roll off of Batman. Croc then tries to send a shock wave at Spidey by slamming his fist into the ground but he rolls out of the way. Croc then jumps over to another propane tank.

"Time to take this seriously." Croc says as he begins to rip the tank off its hinges again.

More men drop out of a helicopter and try to attack the heroes but Spidey deals with them while Batman again throws a Batarang at the propane tank and makes it explode.

Spidey then tries to take on Croc himself and leaves the rest of the goons who are still standing to Batman. Spidey ties Croc's arms to his chest and begins to perform multiple strikes on him. Croc eventually breaks free and knocks Spider-Man to the ground and tries to bite him.

"Ugh! You really need to brush your teeth!" Spidey says as he punches Croc in the face sending Croc back a bit before Batman comes in and strikes Croc across the face.

"Hold it right there." Croc says as he once again picks up another propane tank. Again, Batman causes it to blow up as Croc picks it up.

Batman then runs up to him kicks him in the chin and does a backflip. Spider-Man also runs up to him and drop kicks him into a gate. Croc falls over onto the gate and causes it to collapse and dangle above the sea. Croc got both his arms stuck in the gate as Batman and Spider-Man jump on top of him, causing the gate lower.

"Your boss. Where's he going?" Batman says and strikes Croc causing the gate to loosen.

"Only boss a'me, is me." Croc says earning another strike, causing the gate to loosen more.

"You want teeth, I want answers!" He says as he strikes Croc for a third time.

Croc looeds down to the sea below him that he thinks he's about to fall into before responding, "Wait till Black Mask's assassins gets through with the two of you."

"What assassins?!" Batman shouts and punches Croc again, making the gate nearly break off its hinges.

Croc laughs before he says. "Whoever wins is gonna be famous AND rich.

Batman strikes him for a final time, making Croc go unconscious from all the punches and the beating he received.

"Well, at least we know he won't be ugly." Spider-Man said as he stood over him.

AS the two step back onto the roof, they dragged Croc off the gate just before it falls into the sea. Suddenly, a group of policemen including Gordon and Bullock show up pointing their lights and their guns at the two behind them.

"Freeze!" Says one of the cops.

"Hold it right there!" Shouts Bullock.

"Got any ideas?" Spider-Man whispers

"One." He replies as he presses a button on his gauntlet.

"I'm taking you two in." Gordon says as Batman begins to back up with Spider-Man following his lead.

"Not tonight." Batman says.

Spider-Man's spider senses go off but he is too late to react as Batman pushes him off the ledge. Batman falls off the ledge after him. The cops advance towards the ledge to investigate, when suddenly the Batwing rises with Batman and Spider-Man on it. Batman hops into jet and presses a button on the controls that scoots his seat forward and makes room for a second passenger.

"Get in." Batman says over the roaring jets to Spider-Man.

Spidey doesn't think twice before hopping into the passenger seat. Once the glass slides over the two, it takes off and disappears, leaving the cops in awe.

"No such thing as a Bat Man, huh?" Bullock says to Gordon.

* * *

"You know, it would have been nice if you had told me your plan _before _you pushed me off the roof." Spidey said as he and Batman flew over the city.

"Your fine, aren't you?" Batman replies.

Spidey just rolls his eyes under his mask. "Anyway, didn't know you had your own jet. Where did you get it?" Spidey said.

"I built it." He says without much thought.

Spider-Man was astonished._He built this thing?! _He thought, impressed with the jet itself.

A few minutes pass by before Spidey looked out the window, and saw that they were leaving the city. "Hey, where are we going?" Spidey asks.

"To the Batcave." Batman says as they fly towards an island. Spidey fails to see Wayne Manor above them as they enter through a waterfall into a cave.


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry that I've taken so long to write this. Please Review!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Once the jet landed, both heroes jumped out and landed on the ground. Spider-Man took in his surroundings, he was standing on a metal floor inside of a huge cave. Behind him was what looked like a training facility and some sort of car under construction. In front of him was a bunch of computers and monitors on a table.

_Wow. I wish I had a secret lair just like this. _Spidey thought to himself.

Standing in front of him was a man wearing a suit and bow tie. _Who's this? Does Batman have someone working for him? _Spider-man thinks to himself.

"I see you brought an unknown guest into the cave sir, may I ask who this is and why he is here?" Said the man.

"Alfred, this is Spider-Man. I met him a few days ago, he's here to help." Batman tells him.

"Hey" Spidey said.

"Good evening sir." Alfred then turned back to Batman while Spidey was looking around the cave in awe. "Are you sure it's wise to bring him here? Does he know your identity?" Alfred asks in a hushed voice.

" No, but he seems trustworthy. And I don't think he knows who am either, we entered the cave at a fast speed." Batman said, keeping his voice down.

"Alright, I respect your decision. Although, I never took you for making friends this quickly." Alfred said with a small smirk on his mouth. "So, shall I warm up Christmas dinner?"

"No. It's going to be a long night Alfred. We just ran into a human-shaped crocodile. Who told us Black Mask has hired assassins to kill us." Batman says as he walks over to the Batcomputer. Spider-Man then returned his focus back to Batman and followed him.

Batman inserts the memory card they had gotten from the drone into the computer. As they wait, Alfred asks, "Assassins sir? As in, more than one?"

"That's right." Batman responded.

"And you hear this from the mouth of a crocodile man?" Alfred questioned.

"His name is Killer Croc." Batman says as pictures of Croc fighting appear on the screen. "And he's already behind bars."

"I feel bad for whoever has to share a cell with him." Spidey commented.

"I don't" Batman remarked. "Let's see what else is on the drone's hard drive."

Suddenly, a video started playing. Showing Black Mask holding a meeting with his men and standing in front of a board with pictures of people on them.

"Each of them gets one of these envelopes. I need them delivered. Tonight!" Black Mask says as he hands one of his men the envelopes.

"They're all hired killers. The best in the business. Black Mask isn't playing around." Batman states as pictures of the assassins pop up on the screen.

"Slade Wilson...Deathstroke. Former military, subject of a failed medical experiment." Batman says as a video plays of Deathstroke fighting off a group of men and taking all of them down.

"Failed, you say?" Alfred questions as the video shows Deathstroke receives an envelope.

"Garfield Lynns, A.K.A Firefly. Burns on 90 percent of his body. Hmm… his obsession is going to be his end." Batman says as Firefly's profile is shown on the computer screen.

"How unlike anyone I know." Alfred comments.

"Here's a face I don't recognize. Copperhead. Strange. These reports reference a male, not a female." Batman says as a video of Copperhead appears on screen.

"Huh?" Spidey says, wondering why reports weren't female when the picture clearly showed a female.

The video showed Copperhead in an interrogation room with a man. "Fourteen escapes, huh? Well you won't be getting out of-" He stops when he turns around to see Copperhead gone. "What the-?" He says looking around. However he forgets to look up, as Copperhead jumps on top of him. "Help! Help!" He screams as Copperhead breaks his neck using her leg. She then picks up the envelope for the bounty.

"Floyd Lawton, A.K.A Deadshot." Batman says as a video plays of Deadshot on a roof surrounded by police. "Freeze!" Shouts one of the cops.

"Says here he's an expert sharpshooter." Batman says.

_Reminds me of someone back in New York. _Spidey thinks to himself.

"How on Earth…? Alfred asks. "Suspected of many assassinations. Dangerous, but reckless." Batman continues.

"Street tough named Lester Buchinsky. Calls himself 'Electrocutioner.'" Batman says as a picture of Electrocutioner on the screen. "How shocking." Spidey remarks.

"Shiva." Batman says as a video plays of Shiva walking in a cemetery as thugs surround her. "Her skill is unmatched." Batman continues. Then the video shows Shiva taking down all the thugs. One of Black MAsk's men cautiously handed her an envelope. Then the video shows what the envelopes says. On the envelope it reads One Night To Kill The Bat and Spider. Payment For This Hit Is $50,000,000.

Then another video plays showing a large man wearing a mask jumping off of a shipping container and landing on someone, knocking him out. "Bane. Here? In Gotham?" Batman questions. Then the video shows Bane fighting two large and muscular men and killing them. Then one of Black Mask's men gives him the envelope from Black Mask. "Why would he be taking money as a hired killer?" Batman wonders.

"Hmm… Mac Gargan, A.K.A. Scorpion. Never seen this face before. Was in some sort of lab experiment that messed up his head, causing him to have predatory instincts of a scorpion." Batman says as multiple picture of a man in a metal green suit and a long sharp tail that looks like a scorpion's tail appears on screen.

"Wait, Scorpion? What's he doing here?" Spidey asks while getting closer to the screen.

"Do you know him?" Batman asks Spider-Man.

"Yeah, he's from New York. I heard he was having something shipped out here, but I thought it was just to sell weapons. He's the reason I came to Gotham." Spidey says, thinking it wasn't just guns he was shipping to Gotham. Did he also ship his suit? Was that what the criminal was talking about?

Here's someone else. William Baker A.K.A Flint Marco A.K.A Sandman. His body can become sand and form objects in his hands out of sand." Batman says, as picture of Sandman came on screen.

"Sandman? He's here too?" Spidey says while looking at the pictures.

"Is he from New York too?" Batman says looking over at Spider-man.

"Yeah, I'm surprised he's here though. He hasn't shown his face in New York for 3 months." Spidey responds.

"Is that Warden Joseph?" Alfred asks as a video of Joseph being dragged into a room by Black Mask's men played. The men shove him to the floor in front of Black Mask.

"Mmm-hmm. Must be how Black Mask got inside Blackgate Prison. He uses torture for intimidation, and entertainment." Batman says as the video shows Black Mask about to put a lit cigarette in the warden's eye before it cuts off.

"Ten assassin's after your heads. What will you two do?" Alfred asks them as the computer shows each assassin.

We're going to find out who was operating that drone, and make them tell us what they know. Then we're going to find Black Mask, and put an end to this." He says as the video ends.

"Sir I may be stating the obvious here, but you do realize that since you and I are the only are the only people who know the Batman's true identity, and I doubt anyone knows our guest's identity as well, those assassins will all fail their mandate if you and him just spend the evening here." Alfred states.

Spider-Man was about to respond, but Batman beat him to it. "They'll put innocents in danger to attract our attention. I can't take that risk." Batman replies.

"I agree, there's no telling how far they'll go." Spider-Man says.

"And you two think it's a better idea to just put yourselves in their crosshairs?" Alfred questions.

Then the Batcomputer shows a picture of the drone they had seen earlier. "There's only one person in Gotham who can get his hands on this. The Penguin. He's been tracking Black Mask. It's next waypoint was a rendezvous with Penguin's men at Jezebel Plaza." Batman says as the location of Jezebel Plaza shows on the screen. "I'll make them talk."

Batman then turns to Spider-Man. "Are you sure you want to come along? I can handle this by myself." He says.

"They're after my head too. Besides, Two of them are from my city. So of course I'll come with you." Spider-Man says.

"Alright, let's go." He says as they begin to walk towards the Batwing.

"You sure this is wise, Sirs?" Alfred asks.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Spidey responds.

"Well in case you change your minds, and want to train tonight instead I'll keep the training facility active." Alfred says.

"Sirs, to make your travels easier, I went ahead and set up some auto-nav points at different areas of the city. One of my preset destinations should take you right to Jezebel Plaza." Alfred says before the two heroes could hop into the Batwing.

"Thanks Alfred." Spidey says as they get into the Batwing. The Batwing lifts up in the air and turns around and flies off.


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Welcome to the next chapter of the story! Please review!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

While the two were flying towards the city, Batman realized that the nearby GCR tower was realising a jamming signal.

"Alfred I've got-" Batman was interrupted by Alfred. "I'm tracking it too. It appears the control towers you use for you auto-nav-systems are putting out a jamming signal."

"Storm damage?" Batman guessed.

"You two will have to go down there and find out yourselves, sir."

"Got it. I'm close to one now." Batman responded.

"I hope it's just storm damage." Spidey said, the last thing they needed was someone blocking their travel points. However, he knew the chances of it being storm damage was low.

The two jumped out of the Batwing as flew over the tower and fell through the window, shattering glass everywhere.

Before they could move forward, Batman handed Spider-Man a communicator. "Here, you'll need this. It will allow you to communicate with Alfred."

"Thanks." Spidey says as he took the communicator from Batman and lifted part of his mask open and put it in his ear.

Then two heard voices coming from behind the door in front of them. "I swear, we're the only ones here. Look, Gotham Optics gets a call that a tower acting funny right? So they send a guy over. But he never shows. Probably went home for the night, lazy bastard… Anway, when he doesn't report in, they send us over. There's no secret plan here, fellas. We're just doing our jobs."

The two begin to listen in on the conversation, "And we're just doing ours. See, we've been hired to make sure no one touches this tower." Came a different voice.

"You want us to leave? No problem. Just let us go and it'll be like none of this ever happened."

"Yeah, but what if you decide to tell someone, hmm? So I texted the boss to ask what we should do. Gotta wait 'till he writes back."

"Can't you just, uh, call him?" Came a new voice.

He only takes texts, this guy. Weird, right? But as long as he keeps paying us, he can use smoke signals for all I care."

"So uh... does Gotham Optics give you good benefits? Vacation time? Health Insurance? I'm thinkin' they must set ya up pretty nice."

"I...guess?" said one of the hostages.

"Listen to you! Thinkin' about a career change?"

"Nothing wrong with having options."

"True, true. Plus, after tonight they might have some openings."

"Oh no...please don't kill us."

"We'll see what the weirdo who hired us has to say about that."

The two had enough waiting around and walked through the door and shocked all of the mobsters. They all jumped and pointed their guns at the two figures above them.

"What the? Grab the hostages!" Panicked one of the men as he ran off to grab a hostage to protect himself..

"Y-You seein' this?!"

"What the hell are those things?"

"You two got some kind of deathwish?"

_I can drop smoke pellets to conceal my movement. _Batman thought as he threw one to the ground.

Spidey had no idea Batman was going to do that and was getting a little irritated with Batman not telling him when he was going to do something. As Batman grappled up to a vantage point, Spidey jumped up onto the ceiling and said, "Ok, you really need to tell me what you're going to do something _before _you do it."

Batman ignored him and looked at the mobster with a hostage and told Spidey, "Attacking head on is a good way to get ourselves shot, and probably the hostage too. But they won't expect an attack from above."

"Heh, nobody ever does." Spidey said. "I call dibs on this guy."

"Are those things out there with you?!" Shouts the mobster as Spider-Man crawls along the ceiling over to the vantage point above him.

"Are you crazy?! We were answering a service call! That's it!"

"You better not be lying to me…" The mobster threatens.

Once he was on the vantage point, Spidey used his webs to pull him up. He pulled him up so high he was above the vantage point, Spidey then pulled back on his webs to slam his head on the vantage point to knock him out. Then, he wrapped his webs around his torso and left him hanging.

"Screw this! I quit!" Says the hostage as he runs to a safe spot.

Both Spider-Man and Batman get off of their vantage points and they both see a vent on the wall.

"We can sneak up on the hostage taker by crawling through the vent." Batman says as he walks over to it and rips off the vent cover. As he and Spider-Man made their way through, they could hear the mobsters talking.

"W-what the hell was that?! You think it's the guy that hired us? You piss him off or something?"

"No way. Besides, I don't get the sense he's the uh, physical type."

Then Batman broke through the vent, knocked the mobster off his feet, and knocked him out with a strike to the chin.

"Get yourself to safety, and call the police. They'll want to see what's going on here." Batman said to the hostage.

"Ok, I will. This was just supposed to be a service call. Fix the tower. In and out. I need a new job…"

The two heroes spotted another vent to crawl through. Once they got in, they heard the mobsters talking again.

"I'm out."

"Where are you going?"

"Where those... things, can't get me."

Then one of the criminals grabbed a hostage "Whoever you guys are, come near me and I'll kill this guy. I ain't playin'."

Once the two got out of the vent, they were in a small room right behind the hostage taker. In front of them were wooden boards. Batman grabbed the criminal through the boards and punched him in the face, knocking him out.

_Holy shit. _Spider-Man thought. Shocked at how Batman just did that with ease.

As they moved forward, the hostage began to panic. "I can fix the tower, whatever you want. Just, please don't hurt me."

"All we want is for you to get yourself to safety" Spidey told the hostage.

Once they made their way down the hallway in front of them, they saw that the last guy was standing next to the ledge above them. Spider-Man crawled his way up the wall and once he was just below the criminal, he used his webs to pull him over the railing and swung him down onto the wall he was currently on and webbed him to it.

The two made their way over the railing and through the door into the control room. Once they were in the room, they saw a destroyed wall and a body.

"Wonder what happened here?" Spidey said.

_I don't think this tower malfunction is from storm damage. I need to set up a crime scene and find out what happened. I should start by identifying the victim._ Batman thought.

"What are you doing?" Spidey said as he saw Batman's eyes turn white and stared at the body.

"I'm using something called detective mode to find out what happened. It allows me to identify people and replay events. If I can find out what happened, I may be able to discover what's going on with the tower."

Spidey didn't understand what he was talking about, but he didn't feel like questioning it. So he decided to stay silent, stand back, and let him do his thing.

_Victims name is David Shannon, a Gotham Optics employee sent here to repair a faulty network tower. But what killed him? Scanning the DNA impact should provide an answer._

Once he scanned the DNA, a reconstruction of the crime scene played. _Impact analysis indicates the victim was killed by some kind of explosion, originating at that access panel. I should scan it for additional clues. _

_It looks like the panel was rigged to detonate when swiped with a keycard. Someone really didn't want this tower repaired. And it looks like that same someone left a set of fingerprints behind. _Batman thought once he scanned the panel.

Then he contacted Alfred "Alfred. I'm uploading some prints for analysis. Let me know what comes back."

"Certainly sir. Searching now… And here we are. They belong to one John F. Baker. He's a rather unremarkable criminal. Small jobs mostly. Only… That's curious."

"What's curious?" Spidey said, entering to conversation.

"Ah, Spider-Man. Didn't realize Batman gave a communicator. Almost had me thinking that someone has hacked our communication. Anyway, Mr. Baker's dead sir. His body was recovered from the Diamond District just under an hour ago."

"Looks like someone's tying up loose ends." Batman said.

_I can bypass the booby-trapped access panel with my Cryptographic Sequencer. But I'll need the encryption codes from the victim's access card. Reviewing the crime scene will show me where it is. _Batman thought as he began to rewind the crime scene.

It showed the access card flying into the vent next to him. He opened it and scanned the card.

"What's that?" Spidey said when he saw Batman open the vent.

"It's the access card the victim used. It has the codes I need to hack any of the network tower's access panels with my Cryptographic Sequencer."

"A what?" Spidey questioned.

Batman then pulled out his Cryptographic Sequencer. "This, it allows me to hack into any security panel." Batman explained. He then began to hack the panel. Once he entered the code in, the door unlocked. The two entered through the door and climbed up the ladder.

* * *

Once they climbed up, there was a big metal door in front of them.

"Alfred. Contact the GCPD. Let them know about the body. Send the data from my analysis too." Batman said.

"Certainly sir. Does this mean you and Spider-Man have found the source of the disturbance?" Alfred asked.

"I think so." Spider-Man responded.

Spidey then walked up to the door and opened it. In there was another access panel. Once Batman was about to hack it, He was interrupted by someone appearing on the screen and was hiding his face in the shadows.

"Well, well. If it isn't the King Thugs themselves. Figured it was only a matter of time before you two showed up. Sorry about the mess downstairs."

"Who is this?" Batman questioned.

"Think of me as a great big mystery! One you two are never going to solve."

"Enigma then." Spidey said.

"Oh ho ho. You must think you're so clever. Well how's this for clever. I've taken control of towers all over the City. As long as they're active, your Batwing's useless. And it looks like it's gonna stay that way. I mean, this one's practically BEGGING to be taken ofﬂine and you still can't hack it. Pun intended, of course."

"We'll see about that." Spidey said as Batman began to hack the panel. Once he was done, Enigma came back.

"Hmmm... Black Mask's not going to like this."

"What are you talking about?" Batman asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Enigma said as he disconnected.

_Yeah, that's why he asked. _Spidey thought to himself.

"I see that you two have regained control of the Batwing, sir. I suppose it's off to Jezebel Plaza, then?" Alfred asked.

"That's the plan. But then… We've also got a lead on Enigma." Batman replied.

"Don't overthink it too much, sir. We both know you two will eventually wind up doing both."

Then the two opened the door next to them and walked out of the room. Then climbed up the ladder in front of them and on to the roof.

"C'mon, if we don't get to Jezebel Plaza before that arms deal, We'll have no way to locate the Penguin." Batman said.

Alright, lead the way." Spidey said as he and Batman jumped off the roof and made their way through the city.


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! Sorry this took so long to write. I hope you enjoy this next chapter of the story! Please review!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Once Spider-Man and Batman reached Jezebel Plaza, they soon realized that no one else was around.

"Looks like we're the first ones here. We need to find a spot where we can stake this place out unnoticed." Batman said to Spider-Man.

Spider-Man spotted a gargoyle above them, it seemed like the perfect spot for them. "Hey, about right there?" Spidey responded while pointing at the gargoyle.

Batman nodded and grappled above them as Spider-Man zipped up to the gargoyles with his webs. The two began to wait a top the gargoyle for Penguin's men. Batman perched himself on the gargoyle while Spider-Man stood on the glass ceiling behind him.

"So, who's this guy were looking for?" Spidey asked as they saw a group of men approach Penguin's men.

"Penguin. Not a dime changes hands in this city he can't tell you about. If anyone knows where Black Mask and his assassins are, it's him. But Penguin's hard to find. His men are doing a deal here. I'll make them talk."

"Guy's!" Loose Lips, the one in charge of the deal shouted. "So, little boys, what do you want for Christmas? Oh wait, I already know." He snapped his fingers and gestured for the thug carrying the briefcase to open it. Inside was a sniper rifle. One of the men from the group threw a briefcase to Loose Lips.

"Now let's see if you've been naughty or... Nice." One of the men in the group approached the briefcase and put all the pieces of the sniper rifle together.

"Punk in the Santa Hat must be in charge." Batman observed.

"What was you first clue?" Spider-Man remarked.

" Where's the rest of 'em?" Someone asked Loose Lips.

"Easy, tiger. When you deal with us, you're dealing with the Penguin. This ain't some ﬂy-by-night operation." Loose Lips replied.

Then the two heroes jump down on two of the criminals before another word could be said. After the heroes knocked out each criminal one by one, until Loose Lips was the only one left standing. Batman threw him onto the chair and chucked the briefcase at him.

"Get away!" Loose Lips tried to scream as Batman kicked him square in the chest, toppling the chair over.

"No...NO!" He screamed as Batman jumped on him and lifted him high in the air.

"Where's the Penguin?" Batman interrogated him.

"I don't know." Loose Lips choked out.

"Where is he?" Batman demanded, lifting him higher in the air.

"I swear." Was all he was able to say before passing out.

"Damn."

"What do we do now?" Spider-Man asked.

Batman turned his head to look up at the Gotham Bank "I think I have an idea."

* * *

"Wake up." Batman said. Loose Lips slowly regained his conscious. "What… what happened?" was all he said before he panicked once he realized his predicament. He was hanging upside down by Batman above the Gotham Bank building.

"Time to talk. Where's Cobblepot?"

"Let me go!"

"If you insist." Batman said as he dropped Loose Lips. He screamed before a web latched on to his foot and he was slammed into the clock on the building. When his phone began to ring, he realized that he was being pulled up. He looked up and saw that it was Spider-Man who caught perched on the underside of the gargoyle Batman was standing on.

"You know, you should really be careful of what you say." Spidey said as he handed the web line to Batman. He then pulled him up further as Loose Lips began to beg. "Please… Stop, stop, I'll talk, I'll tell you anything you want to know! Please!"

Batman took the phone out of his pocket and read the text that Penguin had sent to Loose Lips. "Too late, we already have what we need."

"NO!" He said as Batman let him go. He screamed in terror until he fell straight into the giant christmas tree below him. "You're crazy! You're friggin crazy!" Loose Lips shouted at Batman from the tree.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with the criminal." Spidey gulped, in shock of what just happened.

"If I can read this SIM card, I may be able to locate Penguin." Batman said, dismissing what just happened.

When Batman tried to use his Cryptographic Sequencer, they was some sort of jamming signal blocking him. "Alfred, I getting interference on my com systems. Is that on your side?"

"No, sir. I'm seeing it as well. It's from the nearby GCR tower. It's the same signal jamming the Batwing's auto-nav systems. I've highlighted the tower on your map."

"We'll need to stop that signal before I can track down the Penguin."

The two heroes made their way towards the GCR tower. As they approached the building, they saw a group of criminals on the roof guarding the door to the GCR control room.

"I'm just happy to have work right now." Said one of the criminals.

"But don't you think it's weird? We've never seen this guy or heard his voice? Nothin' but texts from an unlisted number." Responded another.

"Whaddo I care, long as the money shows up in my bank account."

As soon as he said that, Batman and Spider-Man leaped into action. They took down every thug until none were left standing.

"Well look who just showed up! Have you two really decided to try and take me on? Get to it, then! I'm looking forward to watching you both fail." Came Enigma's voice over their comms.

Batman was about to pull out his remote controlled batarang when Spider-Man said "I got this." As he ripped the door off.

"Eh, Typical. I mean, why apply cognitive resources to a problem when you can just use brute force!" Enigma whined.

"You know, if you'd asked nicely, I'd of opened It for you." Enigma remarked once they opened a metal door that looked similar to one from before.

Once Batman hacked the tower, Enigma came back on the screen. "Congratulations are in order! Maybe you're not as stupid as I've been led to believe."

"Why are you doing this, Enigma?" Batman demanded.

"Direct! I like it. So I'll tell you. Gotham is sullied. It's filled with brutes who control this city through violence and intimidation."

"You didn't answer his question." Spidey said.

"Because you didn't let me finish! I want to get rid of them. To improve Gotham's intellectual and moral standing. But I'm not a thug like you. My approach is a bit more refined."

"What you're doing is no different than stealing. There's nothing refined about it." Batman stated.

"Your response is as predictable as it is banal. Goodbye." He said as the transmission was turned off.

Once the two were back on the roof, Batman said, "Now I can access the SIM card I took from that arms dealer and hack Penguin's communications."

Once Batman found the coordinates, they could hear Penguin's men talking about the deal. "The Penguin's pretty pissed off about the deal going south." Came a voice.

"Yeah, if I was involved in that, I'd be on my way out of the city." Came another.

"Alfred, I'm reading a signal from Penguin's men but it's not associated with any known wireless frequency." Batman said.

"Ah yes. I see it here. Looks like Penguin runs his own private wireless network using laptop transmitters serving as ad hoc com stations. He's feeding his men frequencies via two way radio. There are two of these com stations near your position."

"Good. Mark them on my map. It loan find and hack those walkie-talkies I can triangulate Penguin's position." BAtman said as he ended the transmission.

He then turned to Spider-Man, "We should split up, I'll go to Gotham Casino, you head to the Sionis Steel Mill. You know where that is?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I know my way around this place."

"Good, we'll meet on the roof of the Amertek building, you can give me the SIM card there." He said as he took out his grapnel gun and flew off.

* * *

Once Batman got there, he could overhear the thugs talking. "I start my trainin' tomorrow. Gonna kick ass in next year's Boiler Deck".

"I already started lookin' into some self defense classes." Said another thug.

"Self defense? What's that all about?" Questioned one of the thugs.

"You know. Martial arts techniques on how to defend yourself from an attacker."

"Defend yourself? You just gonna stand there and defend yourself while the other guy walls on you? You won't last two rounds."

Then Batman came in and took all of them out. Once they were out cold, he took the SIM card from the nearby computer and hacked into their communications.

"...the Bat Man and the Spider man? You expect me to believe that? Listen, I happen to know that those two got way more important things to do tonight than mess with our shipment. Probably saving their own asses. So next time you want to make up a story, you better make sure the person you're telling it to is dumber than you are. Oh wait, that's right, THERE AIN'T NO ONE DUMBER THAN YOU!" Came Penguin's voice.

"Mr. Cobblepot. I swear it was the Bat and Spider. They dropped Ricky off the roof of the clock tower straight into the Christmas tree." Said one of Penguin's men.

"I don't care what you think you saw. If you're not back 'ere with my money in the next ten minutes. I'll cut your damn eyeballs out. And then you won't have to worry about seeing nothin' ever again. Is that clear!?"

"Yes, Mr. Cobblepot. I'm sorry, Mr. Cobblepot."

_I hope Spider-Man has the last card by now. _Batman thought as he made his to the Amertek building.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Spidey had just taken out all of the guards in the area and grabbed the card. Once he made it to the Amertek building, he saw Batman was already there. "You took longer than I thought." Batman commented.

"Yeah,yeah, here." Spidey said as he handed Batman the card. Once Batman hacked the card, they heard the Penguin talking.

"All right everyone, listen up. I know I oughtta cancel our annual Boiler Deck fights after what happened tonight at Jezebel Plaza, but just to show you what a nice guys I am, the fights are still on. So get to the ship right now if you want in on this. Do I make myself clear? Good, I ain't waiting for laggers."

"There you are. Onboard the Final Offer." Batman said as a map of the Final Offer appears on his gauntlet.

"Penguin's been hiding out on an old ship. No wonder he's been so hard to find." Spidey remarked as they turned to the boat that was next to them.

"So, you ready?" Spiey says.

Batman doesn't reply and jumps off the roof and glides towards the boat. "Hey! Wait up!" Spidey shouts as he quickly swings after him.


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Welcome to the next chapter everyone! I apologize for the long wait, I had a lot of stuff going on in my life. Please review!**

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**Chapter 6**

As they approached the Final Offer, Batman noticed that Penguin had the snipers on guard. _Penguin's got snipers out. we'll have to take the snipers down silently to proceed. _

There was one sniper on the mast of the ship and another on top of a shipping container. Below them on the deck, there were 2 of Penguin's men guarding the entrance while 6 others in the surrounding area.

Batman landed on the mast and approached the sniper silently behind him before taking him out. Spider-Man landed next to him once the sniper was unconscious. "You have a plan, right?"

Batman nodded, "You take out sniper over there, then I'll take out the guys on the right and you take the ones on the left. Once there dealt with, we'll take out the guys by the entrance together."

"Got it." Spidey said. As he began to make his way over to the sniper, he could hear Penguin's men talking.

"So, who's the outside challenger this year?"

"Some guy... Buchinsky?"

"Oh, yeah. I heard a'him. Big guy with a big mouth. Calls himself... Electric...?"

"That's right. Wait a sec, they ain't gonna let 'em use those gloves in the fight, is they?"

"Hope not. That'd shift the odds."

"Yeah it would. I gotta call my bookie."

Once Spidey was behind the sniper, he silently took him down. Once Batman saw Spider-Man knock him out, he began to take out the guards on the right side of the ship silently while Spidey took out the ones on the left. Once that was done, the two met on the walkway above the entrance.

"On my count, 3,2,1." Batman said as he gilded down to one guard and kicked him while Spidey zipped down to the other guard and used his momentum to knock him down and web him in place. He looked over to see Batman knocking the guard out before he could get back up. Then, the two entered the ship,

Once they were inside, two of Penguin's men were waiting for them with knives.

"You want to get cut, freaks?"

"Looks like someone brought a bat and a spider to knife fight."

Then the two charged at the heroes, ready to cut them. However, Batman and Spider-Man were expecting it and quickly dodged the attacks before knocking them out easily.

All of a sudden, Penguin's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Ha ha ha ha ha, welcome, welcome to this year's Boiler Deck fights! You know. I always get a laugh outta you first round lot, ha ha. That's why I keep you boys 'round ha ha. Well that an' I need someone to clean out the pisser! HAHAHAHA. An' don't think I didn't notice those of you who didn't bet on yourselves. You're either cheap or lacking confidence. Neither are desirable qualities. I'll sort out you lot after the tourney. But let's get started! Who's ready for some action?"

"Penguin is hosting some kind of fighting tournament. That's where we need to go." Batman said to Spider-Man as he replied with a nod.

As the two were walking, they could hear Penguin's crew testing out the guns.

"The latest in military surveillance gear. Not bad." Came a voice from one of the men.

"Yeah. Pretty sweet, right? My cousin was using these in the war."

"Boss find any buyers for 'em yet?"

"Nah Penguin's just been testin' 'em out on his own so far."

Batman opened the door and knocked out the criminal in front of him. Then the two heroes proceeded to fight all the goons until none were left standing.

"All available hands report to aft deck four. Engine room's starting to ﬂood. Needs to be pumped out pronto." Came a voice over the loudspeaker as Batman and Spider-Man entered the next room.

They then entered an area that led to two places. One led the the boiler deck fight and the other went somewhere else. The hallway that led to the boiler deck was flooded with deep water. Spidey realized that he could make it across, however Batman could not.

Spidey turned to Batman "You wouldn't happen to suddenly have the ability to fly, right?" Spidey joked but was answered with silence. "Don't worry, I'll let you catch up." He said as he swung across the the corridor. Batman only glared at him but remained silent as took the second route.

When Batman entered the engine room, he saw that the area was surrounded by fire, and the only way to get to the next room was to use a small pipeline. As he balanced one the pipes, he could hear people talking.

"Wish I had field duty - instead of cleanin' up after the accident."

"Why's it matter? At least it's warm in here." Someone responded.

Once the he had made it across, he moved forward until he the saw more men on a platform below them.

"Yeah but tonight's the night. They're going after the Bat and the Spider."

"The Bat and the Spider? You serious?" I thought they were like a uh… urban myths."

"Oh they're real enough. At least the Bat is, just ask Mickey."

"Mickey?"

"You know. Lefty."

"Lefty? Ohhh… Lefty. Ych.

Then Batman performed a glide kick to the back of one of Penguin's crew below them. The criminal's didn't stand a chance against him as they were beaten down. As Batman was fighting, the same voice from before came back.

"Hey listen up. Unless y'all want this ship restin' on the bottom of the channel I need some hands in the engine room right now, as in NOW, now to pump 'er out!"

Batman turned forward to see the area in front of them was completely flooded. Batman scanned the area until he spotted a tiny raft he could use. He then pulled out his Batclaw and pulled the raft over to him. _Huh, how convenient. _Thought Batman.

"All right, time for a status report: Decks 1 and 2: still ﬂooded. Deck 3: about half flooded still. No real change there. Repairs on deck 4 are coming along quite well, and no thanks to most of you lousy lugs. We've got the ﬂooding in the engine room under control. That's all. Have a nice night. Enjoy the fights."

As Batman moved forward, he realized that he had hit a dead end. Above him appeared to be a weak floor that looked like it would crumble at any moment. Batman thought of an idea that might work. He shot his Batclaw at the ring that was hanging from the it and began pulling towards him until the floor gave way.

Then Batman proceeded forward and walked through a door that led them to an area that gave him a good look at the fight. As he entered, he saw Spider-Man waiting for him. "You sure took your time." Spidey said, but again was met with silence as Batman stared daggers into him. They could see the Penguin high above the fighting area, above other spectators who were cheering on as two men were throwing punches and kicks at one another.

"C'mon, son! At least make a show of it." Shouted Penguin.

"Alright lads, the rest of you losers-to-be are gonna have to embarrass yourselves without me. God knows you can do it. I got some business to take care of in me office, and I don't want to be disturbed. Tracey'll be running the fights til I get back."

_Sounds like Penguin will be in his office. Tracey should know where that is. I'll make her talk_. Batman thought.

Batman tried to open the door, but realized it was locked. He began to climb up the room to find another way in. Spidey followed him up as they reached the top of the platform and ran across the catwalk in front of them, dodging the steam from the steam pipes above them. Once they made it to the top, they saw a circular steam pipe that was big enough for them to crawl through. Batman pulled open the latch with his batclaw and crawled through it as it led to the arena of the fight. Once they dropped down, they saw everyone staring at them in shock and confusion.

Then their attention turned towards a lady that was walking towards them and then leaned on the rail and said, "Now there's a pair of naughty geezas. Proper naughty. An' they deserve a right proper welcome. Don' they lads?" She said as she gestured behind her. They looked over to see The Electrocutioner walking down a set of stairs behind Tracey.

"You two just saved me a lot of trouble coming here, Bat-Man and Spider-Man." He said before jumped from the stairwell onto the platform above the arena. "I'm-a kill you." He says as he points at them. "Then, I'm-a jumpstart your hearts, and kill you again!" He said as he sent electricity running through the railing he was holding onto.

Then he leaped over the railing and landed on the ground, sending small waves of electricity towards the heroes as he slammed his fist on the metal beneath him.

"ARE YOU READY?!" He yelled as the crowd cheered him on. Electrocutioner got ready to fight as put his hands in front of him and cracked his neck.

"We're looking for Black Mask. Where is he?" Batman questioned, not in the mood for this.

"Hahaha I ain't here to talk. I'm here to kick both your asses." He responded.

"This is your last chance buddy." Spidey said.

However, Electrocutioner did not listen and began trash talking the two. The heroes looked at each other, almost as if they were reading the other's mind, before nodding to each other as the two jumped and kicked the Electrocutioner square in the face, rendering him unconscious. Spidey was a little surprised about how fast the fight ended. _Well that was easy. _He mentally said to himself.

"Who wants to show us where the Penguin is?" Batman shouted toward the crowd.

"Alright you lousy mugs, time t'earn your supper." Tracey said as Penguin's men began jumping into the arena. The two began fighting off the men as Tracey began shouting at the men to "motivate" them to fight better but it clearly wasn't working. Once there was only a handful left standing, Tracey took her leave and said, "Bugger it all! You lads sure are a disappointment. To the Casino, then. Someone's gotta warn Cobblepot what's comin' 'is way."

Once there was only one man standing, Batman picked him up by the throat and began to interrogate him. "Where's Cobblepot?"

"I ain't telling you jack."

"A little more pressure and I'll crush your larynx. What's it going to be?"

"All right, all right. He's in his office. Only way is through the theater, on the other side of the casino. But you'll never get past Tracey."

"Tracey is not a problem." He finished before knocking him out.

_That worked better than the last interrogation. _Batman thought as he began to make his way out of the arena

"Wait, shouldn't we see if Electrocutioner knows anything?" Spidey asks.

"Someone as paranoid as Black Mask wouldn't trust a loud mouth like him with any secrets. If we want to find Sionis, we'll need to find Penguin first. Now c'mon."

Spidey shrugged before quickly following after him as they moved to the platform above the arena and made their way to the deck access corridor. The end of the walkway was sealed off up ahead, so the two had to find another way around. They dropped down to the area below them and ran down the corridor and jumped over the deep water below them and slid under a wall with a pipe on it. As the two climbed up to the air duct in front of them, Tracey began to speak over the intercom

"If Mister Cobblepot finishes with his guest and finds out you numpty prats let the Batman and Spider-Man spoil his Boiler Deck fights, what do you think he's gonna do to you lot? Think about it, lads!"

"Someone's a bit cranky." Spidey says to Batman. Batman ignores him and slides under a wall which leads to a drop to another area. He notices the ice on the wall and applies explosive gel on it and blows it up. As Batman grapple up to the other walkways above him, Spidey takes a different route up as they voices above them.

"Yeah. Heard the boss was just gonna send it to the bottom when he gets the new ship."

"Can't say I'll miss the ole rust bucket. What a'ya think he'll call her? Final Offer Two?"

" You can't call It that, Final Offer's the final offer. As in, final. As in you can't make another one."

"Good point. Well maybe a new name's good luck. We could use it."

"'Specially if the Bat and that Spider guy are here somewhere."

Spidey is able to reach the top before Batman does and notices two thugs on the walkway. He then jumps up and throws one off the side and attaches a web from the railing to his leg. Then attacks the other thug with a few strikes before he's knocked unconscious. Once Batman arrives, Spidey has already dealt with the thugs.

"What took you so long?" Spidey quipped.

Batman just ignored him and walked past him when Tracey's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"All right, you lousy mugs, we're on full alert. I want updates, updates, updates! Anyone seen the intruders? Are they still even on the ship? This is serious, lads!"

They moved up the stairs at the end of the walkway and walked through the door. Once they entered the upper deck, they could hear more voices. They peeked around the corner to see three more of Penguin's men.

"Full alert she says. Intruders on board, she says."

"Yeah, when was the last time we had an intruder on this ship?"

"Heh. Who'd think to break into this heap?"

"All part of Penguin's plan I'm sure. Question is, can Tracey stop them before they get to the boss."

Batman then threw a smoke pellet at them and the two heroes took them out in the confusion. After they were down, Tracey voice came over the loudspeaker once more.

"Oy! I got a message for the Batman and Spider-Man from your mate the Electrocutioner. Back on 'is feet he is, and he says you two may have won this round, but the fight is far from over. He'll be back for the both of yas. Watch your arses!"

_Buchinsky's come to, and now he's on the lam. I should have tied him up and called the cops to get him._ Batman thought to himself.

"Alfred, we had a run in with one of the assassins, Lester Buchinsky." Batman said to Alfred over the radio.

"The Electrocutioner, are both of you all right?" Alfred asked, worried for both of their safeties.

"We're fine. But he managed to escape. His gloves put out a strong electromagnetic pulse. Are you able to isolate the signal from the cave so we can track him down?" Spidey asks.

"Yes I can. Where are you two going now?"

"We're on our way to the Final Offer's casino. We're going to make Penguin's assistant show us to her boss." Spidey answered.

As they finished the call, Spidey notice the weak ceiling above them. He shot his webs at it and pulled it down. They moved up to the floor above them and saw the air vent to their left. Batman ripped it open and the two crawled through it. Once they reached the other side of the air duct, Batman kicked open the vent and exited it with Spidey behind him. They continued walking until they reached the bar of the casino. They noticed one of Penguin's men was asleep in the corner with a bottle in his hand.

"Must 've partied too hard." Spidey quietly said to himself. They entered the casino and saw Tracey through the glass of a room above the casino. Below them were three more of Penguin's men. Two were counting cash while one was patrolling the area.

"Should I go bring it to him." One of the thugs asked the other.

"You serious? We got'a move this cash before the Bat and the Spider get here."

"Right, right. Hey. You thinkin' what I'm thinkin?"

"I'm thinkin you should shut the hell up and pack the money."

"But… There's so much. He ain't gonna miss it if I just take a little Christmas Bonus?"

"You hear about the last guy who lined a few bucks? Penguin told him he could work it off, at the bottom of the harbor."

"Hey… I was just askin'"

"Less askin'. More packin'."

Spiderman silently jumped onto the ceiling and quietly webbed up the the guard patrolling the area and strung him up from the ceiling while Batman snuck up behind the other two and smashed their heads together. Tracey heard the commotion and saw Spidey leap down to the floor next to Batman who had taken one of the criminal's radio and took out the chip.

"Aren't you two a persistent pain in me bottle?"

"Mister Cobblepot ain't takin' new visitors and there ain't no way I'm lettin' you into the theater to see'em. So, you two can be on your merry way. Show them the door, lads."

Suddenly, the entrance to the casino opened and out rushed a bunch of Penguin's men. Once all of them were in she sealed off the doors behind them with metal bars. The criminals didn't stand a chance as the two took them all out. When Tracey saw the last of Penguin's men fall, she barricaded the window to her office.

"Sounds like Cobblepot's office is connected to the theater. And the entrance is controlled from that security room." Spidey informed Batman

Batman spotted air vent for them to use. Once he ripped off the cover and crawled through the vent he began to hack the control panel as he heard more of Penguin's men talking.

"Nothin'. I just told her I was workin' Christmas Eve and there weren't a damn thing she could do 'bout it." One of them said

"Like that, huh?"

"Yeah. Like that. Ain't like she's makin' enough she can tell me what to do."

"You're right. You can't let them get the upper hand."

"That's what my dad always said. 'Course mom would slap him right after."

Once Batman hacked the panel. The door opened to show Spider-Man waiting.

"Let's kill this sunova-" he cut himself off when he saw Spider-Man standing in front of them.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" Spider-Man said as he shot his webs at two of the thugs who were holding guns and yanked them out of their hands. By the time Batman reached them, Two thugs were unconscious while the last one was strung up on the low ceiling.

As they entered the elevator in the room the thugs were in, they heard Tracey talking to someone. "Come on, girl. You're just on the other side of the theater. Step out for a sec and give me an 'and."

"Uh-Uh. I can't. He's doin' business. You know what that means." Came another voice.

"Yeah. Means someone's gettin' hurt. But we got serious issues out 'ere."

"C'mon. Trace. You got a whole boat full a'brawlers. An what 'bout that 'Lectrocuter? He's a nasty one, you'll be fine."

"I'm tellin' you, they're not some ponoe in a fancy sun. They're naughty. An they's moppin' the floor with our best 'n brightest. Not that that's sayin' too much."

"I don't know. Just handle it, sista! He's callin' me back in." Said the voice as the elevator reached the room Tracey was in.

"Uggh! Now I'm really deep in it! Candy! She's earned 'erself a dry slap; she 'as." Tracey groan.

She then saw spotted two shadows on her desk. She began to reach for something under the table.

"That better be lip gloss you're reaching for." Spidey quipped before Tracey revealed that it was a baseball bat and took a swing at the person closest to her which turned out to be Batman. Batman grabbed her wrist, knocked the bat out of her hand, twisted her arm back, and pushed her into a tiny cell nearby before closing the door.

"Oy! You can't do this! I'm claustrophobic I am!" She shouted.

Batman then hacked the control panel and unlocked the door and unblocked the window. Then the two jumped out of the window and walked to the door. When Batman tried to open it, a ton of force knocked him back into Spider-Man. As they got back to their feet, they saw who had knocked them back.

"Allo, boys. You know you ain't welcome 'ere. And you know what we do to trespassers? Well, yer 'bout ta find out, ain't ya?" Came the voice of a huge thug as more men surrounded the two heroes.


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! I apologize for the long wait. School has kept me away from updating on this story. Updates will be slow. I apologize for the chapter being short. Please enjoy and review!**

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**Chapter 7**

In front of them was Penguin's Enforcer. All the other goons that circled around them somehow looked smaller compared to him. As he tried to charge at the duo, Spidey quickly webbed him in the face, stopping him dead in his tracks. As he tried to pull the webbing off, Batman took advantage of the distraction and began to attack him with repeated strikes to his stomach while Spider-Man took care of the rest of the thugs. Once the Enforcer was dazed enough, Batman punched his knee away so he had his back toward him and swung around his neck before slamming his head into the ground. Once Batman turned around, he saw Spidey finish off the last guy by jumping onto the thugs head, slammed him to the floor, and then webbed him there to prevent him from getting up.

The duo proceeded through the door and entered the next room. There was a display of a miniature version of the Final Offer in a display case in the middle of the room. Spidey walked up to it and pressed the button on the display case. A recording of Penguin's voice came through the speakers on the display.

"Behold! The Final Offer. Ain't she a beauty? And to think, I bought her for a song off a band of Somali pirates, they were going to sell'er for scrap, if you can believe it! Now she weren't always called the Final Offer. That was my work of genius. In a previous life, she was the hybrid cargo/cruise liner Olivia B. Meredith. A proud old ship indeed. They don't build'em like this anymore. Tough as nails, and with all the amenities a man could want. Those pirates don't know what they let slip through their fingers."

Spidey had lost interest halfway through the history lesson and had already moved on to the theater with Batman following. As they entered, they saw that there were 5 thugs in the room and all of them were armed. There was a hostage on the opposite side of the room from where they were standing. Batman turned to see one of the five was just a few feet away from them to the right. As he began to silently take him down, he heard one of Penguin's men talking to the hostage.

"You gotta know mister Falcone's not gonna stand for this." Said the hostage.

"You wanna end up on ice like your friends?"

"You're scum. All a'you. You got no idea what you're startin'."

"You don't get it. The Falcones are done. Finished. A dyin' empire. It's our turn now."

"Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth."

"You callin' me weak?"

"Meek. It's from the bible."

" Ah. I ain't never read that book. But if you're the prayin' type should shut your mouth and pray your boss tells my what he wants to know. Else both'a yas are gonna be… What do you guys say? 'Swimmin' with the fishes'."

"Swimming with the fishes? Oh that's original. You think of that yourself, you low-class goomba?"

"I'm warnin' ya. One more word…"

After they had finished talking, Spidey had already strung up one of the thugs from the bird statue above him silently and Batman had snuck up behind another Penguin thug and silently took him down. Spidey dropped down to the ground near the next criminal, pulled the thug over to him with his web, smashed him into the wall he was standing next to, and webbed him there. Batman had snuck into the air vent below the last thug that was standing next to the hostage and jumped out the vent and smashed his face into the floor. The hostage then stood up once he saw that the room was secure as Batman walked over to him.

"What do you want, I didn't do nothin'." Said the hostage in a panicked voice.

""Who's your boss? What does Penguin want with him?" Batman demands.

"Alberto Falcone, but I got no idea what Penguin wants with him I swear."

Before the two could make their way to the door, the Falcone bodyguard decided to say one more thing. "I don't know what your game is, but old man Falcone would be in your debt if the two of you take Cobblepot down. He's right through that door back there."

"No thanks. We don't need the Falcones in our debt." Batman answers before he moves towards the door with Spider-Man right behind him.

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As they open the door, the heroes surprisingly go unnoticed by everyone in the room as they continue their conversation.

"Now where were we, Candy?" Said Penguin.

"You suggested little Alberto over here, hey baby." She said as she winked at him. "Try to convince his father to take early retirement. He disagreed… Called you a… Let's see… 'psychotic little bastard.'" Replied Candy.

"Penguin slowly walked over to Alberto as he began panicking. " No… No, no, no, no, Please!" He cried before Penguin whacked him in the stomach with his umbrella. Alberto spat out some blood from his mouth as Penguin lit a cigar and blew smoke in his face. Alberto began coughing as Penguin reached for a zapper on a nearby table. Now you best listen Falcone… 'cos this is the last time I'll ask'" Penguin says as he activates the zapper.

He walks in front of Falcone and grabs the back of his head and yanked it back. "What are you gonna tell yer father?" Penguin threatens as he moves the zapper closer to his face.

"That we're getting out of the weapons business. I promise. I'll make him do it." Alberto says as sparks from the zapper shoot out from it near his face. Penguin throws his head forward and starts laughing.

"I see your lips flappin, Berty, but they ain't makin the sound I want to hear." Penguin says before he starts zapping him a few times before a batarang comes out of nowhere and knocks the zapper out of his hands.

Penguin sees the two heroes standing in the room and quickly takes cover behind Falcone. "You idiots better kill them, 'cos if not, you better 'ope they kill you." He threatens

"Please! Don't hurt me!" Falcone begs. As the two begin taking down the thugs.

Penguin begins yelling at his men to do better as Batman and Spider-Man mop the floor with them. Penguin then begins panicking as he realizes that all the thugs are knocked out.

"Now hold on, hold on a bloody minute!" He begs before Batman picks him up and throws him at a nearby mirror, shattering glass everywhere as Penguin lands on the table.

"I seen your acts. I ain't done nothing you two not'a done." He says before Batman throws him off the table and onto the floor.

As Penguin tries to get up, Batman slams his head onto the floor. "Black Mask. Put a bounty on our heads. Where is he?" He shouts

" I don't keep tabs on every geezer with a grudge. You two aren't popular blokes in this town." Penguin responds before Batman flips him off his stomach and onto his back and punches him in the face a few times. He then lifts Penguin high into the air by his throat. "You're running out of time." Batman says and then punches Penguin in the face.

" Eck… Wait - Wait… Lacey Towers. There was a murder… it was supposed to be his safehouse…" As Penguin was being interrogated, Spider-Man could have sworn he heard footsteps behind them. "But ol' Black Mask he's got problems of'is own, I'd say. Someone broke in there and- "

Spidey felt his spider senses tingling. "Batman watch out!" He shouts before he and Batman's felt something wrap around their feet. They fall down and are dragged across the floor. Batman grabs onto the door frame as Spidey is yanked out of the room and is hanging upside-down from a wire. Batman is kicked in the face by the mysterious person and lets go of the door frame, and hangs right next to Spider-Man. They both see the man walk towards them with a sword in hand. He then tries to stab Batman but he counters it and is able to get ahold of the sword. He knocks the man back and cut the wire around Spidey's foot and his. He then glides down to the boiler deck below them as Spidey is able to get his feet under him and sticks the landing. The mysterious man drops down in front of them revealing it to be Deathstroke. Batman drops the sword as Deathstroke pulls out another sword from his back. The two begin circling the assassin as they get ready for a fight.

"It appears the game is over before it even begins." Deathstroke taunts.

"We're not here to play games." Spidey says as he and Batman get into fighting stances.


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the slow updates. School has been keeping me busy. Please review!**

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**Chapter 8**

"Tell us where we can find Black Mask." Batman said.

"Tracking the both of you down was much easier than I thought. Perhaps you two won't be much of a challenge after all." Deathstroke said as he put his sword away and took out his Bo staff.

He then lunged at Batman who quickly countered it and tried to strike him but he rolled out of the way. Deathstroke tried to attack again but Batman once again countered and pushed him forward towards Spider-Man who saw an opening and struck Deathstroke in the face.

Spider-Man tried to punch Deathstroke but he blocked it with his staff and knocked Spider-Man off balance. Deathstroke spun around and tried to jab his side with the staff but Spider-Man countered by grabbing the staff, shoving him forward, and elbowing him in the back towards Batman who hit him with a roundhouse kick to the face.

Batman tried to strike him once more, but Deathstroke swatted his fist away and hit his shoulder and the side of his face with his staff. He then brought his staff down over his head trying to hit him, but Batman moved out of the way quickly and connected his knee to his face where then Spider-Man dropped kicked him in the back, pushing him towards the Dark Knight and was kneed in the stomach.

Deathstroke turned his attention back to Spider-Man and tried to strike him as he did before, but was met with the same results. Batman then turned Deathstroke's attention back towards him as he assaulted him with a flurry of strikes and kicks. Batman then grabbed his staff and threw Deathstroke over himself towards Spider-Man who kicked him in mid-air and sent him almost halfway across the room.

"That was a mistake." Deathstroke said before throwing a flash bang on the ground, stunning the heroes for a few moments. That was all the time Deathstroke needed to jump towards Batman and began to strike him repeatedly with his staff as Batman blocked each strike. He then brought both hands up, stopping the staff from striking, and then headbutted him and began a flurry of punches.

Batman was able to hit Deathstroke hard enough to knock his mask off.

"Geez, how are you not getting any back pains from this?" Spidey jokes.

Deathstroke tried to smack Batman with his staff but Batman grabbed a hold of it and swung it back at Deathstroke's face.

Deathstroke then tried to strike Batman's side with the staff, but was stopped again. Batman tried to elbow him in the back, but Deathstroke was anticipating it and dodged it by jumping in the air and preparing to strike down with his staff. However, Batman caught it and threw Deathstroke over his head and onto the ground. Spider-Man tried to slam his foot into Deathstroke's stomach, but he was able to roll out of the way.

Deathstroke then smacked Spider-Man away and tried to slam his staff on his head. Spider-Man was able to dodge and was preparing to knee him but Deathstroke rolled out of the way and tried to swing his staff at him. Spider-Man ducked under it and threw him into the air and brought him crashing to the floor with his webs.

"After that, I would probably start looking for a wheelchair if I were you old man." Spidey quipped.

"Shut up and fight kid." Deathstroke growled.

Then Deathstroke jumped in the air and took out his Remote Claw and shot it at Spider-Man. It connected to his chest and shot out to an explosive barrel above the arena and pulled it over to Spider-Man. Spidey acted quickly and grabbed the barrel when it was close enough and threw it at Deathstroke, who was trying to shoot him.

"You'll regret that." Deathstroke yells before throwing another flash bang on to the ground and blinding the two ounce more. This time, Deathstroke lunged towards Spider-Man and began attacking him with multiple strikes with his staff. Once Spider-Man saw an opening in his attacks, he webbed him in the face and began his beatdown on Deathstroke.

Once he ripped the webbing off his face, Deathstroke then tried to bash Spider-Man with his staff. Unfortunately for him, Spidey was able to grab and push Deathstroke away and broke his staff over his knee.

"Oops." Was all Spidey said.

Deathstroke pulled out his sword from before and got into a fighting stance."You know, I think a cane would be more useful." Spidey said

Batman leaped forward and tried to kick Deathstroke, only to hit air as Deathstroke swung his sword and tried to kick him. Batman swatted his foot away and tried to punch him but Deathstroke side stepped and turned his attention over to Spider-Man. He then swung his sword at Spidey's neck but he ducked under it and tried to counter with a clothesline. Deathstroke rolled under it and returned his focus back to the Dark Knight and swung his sword at him. However, Batman blocked it and kicked him in the face.

Deathstroke used his Remote Claw once more but this time on Batman, only to be met with another explosive barrel to his face.

He then tried to swing his sword at Batman who blocked it and kicked him towards Spider-Man who landed a few strikes on his legs and stomach before knocking him back towards Batman. Deathstroke tried to land a hit on Batman but he dodged it and knocked him back with a punch to the face.

"Surprising." Deathstroke said before throwing down another flash bang and leapt at Batman with another flurry of strikes from his sword. Batman blocked every hit once again before Deathstroke quickly swung his sword at Batman's chest but was caught. Spidey decided that now was the best time to intervene and kicked Deathstroke away.

He then rushed towards Batman but he was able to uppercut Deathstroke and hit him with the blunt end of the sword on the head and kicked back toward the wall with his sword in Batman's hand.

"It's over Slade." Batman said.

"What are you two?" Deathstroke growled before Batman threw the sword at him. However he aimed to miss so it got stuck into the wall. Batman then uppercuted him back to the wall and kicked him in the face, into the sword. He then collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

"Not gonna lie, that was pretty awesome." Spidey said as he walked up behind Batman. As Batman kneeled down over Deathstroke to see if he was awake or not, he heard a voice ring out.

"It was nice seein' you two. Feel free to let yourselves out." Came Penguin's voice from above. He was standing on the balcony with Candy and Tracey. He then turned around and walked back into his office with Candy as he lightly smacked her on the ass and closed the doors behind him.


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for such a long wait. I've been lacking motivation to write this story recently. But I owe it to you guys to finish this story. Something I forgot to mention, the lens on Spider-Man's eyes are like the ones in the Spider-Man PS4 game, just so you guys don't get confused later in the story. Here's the next chapter for you all!**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Once Penguin had walked back into his office, Batman turned to Spider-Man "We can't let Penguin get away. There's more I need to ask him." he said.

He then turned around to Deathstroke bent down to take the Remote Claw from earlier off him.

"What are you going to do with that?" Spidey asked.

"I can use this device to get up to the balcony." Batman responded.

"How?"

"You'll see." he replied. Batman then aimed the Remote Claw at two anchors above the balcony to create a line of wire. Once it was in place, he grappled onto the line and dropped down onto the balcony. Spider-Man then web-zipped after him as Batman tried to open the door to find it locked.

Suddenly, Penguin appeared on a screen through a projector. "You'll have more luck gettin' into a nun's skivvies than gettin' into this room. Go on, then. Beat it a bit harder. Really make me feel it. Well, as you can see, I got me 'ands full. 'ave a and piss off. Ha hahahaha!"

"Alfred. See if you can find any information on a murder at Lacey Towers." Batman asked Alfred through his communicator.

"Hmm, Looks like police are on the scene now, sir. Oh and this is interesting. They're saying Black Mask is the victim." He responds.

"Black Mask dead? We're on our way there now." Batman states before ending the transmission.

"This just gets better and better." Spidey sarcastically says before jumping off the balcony and begins making his way towards the exit with Batman following behind him.

Once they walked down the stairs towards Deck 1, Batman realized that he could get across the ravine with the Remote Claw. He then created a line for him to walk across while Spidey used his webs to make it to the other platform.

"Alfred. Get GCPD to take a look at the Final Offer, moored at Dixon Docks. They'll find Slade Wilson tied up and waiting for them, along with some of Penguin's illegally obtained weapons."

"Another anonymous tip? Will do, sir." Alfred said in an annoyed tone.

Once the two entered the next room, the monitors showed a man in a red hood around his head and wore an Anarchist mask on his face. He wore an orange scarf around his neck, and a red jacket with an Anarky symbol.

"Oppressed citizens of Gotham, your cries for help have been heard! I am Anarky, voice of the people, here to save you from the plague of corruption that now infests this once proud city! Those hired and elected to keep us free and safe won't lift a finger! And why would they? They've been bought and paid for; encouraged to turn a blind eye. If they won't act, I will. At dawn's first light, the sources of Gotham's ruin WILL. BE. DESTROYED. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming of propaganda and consumerist garbage."

"As if there isn't enough going on tonight." Batman says sarcastically.

"You said it." Spidey scoffs.

Once the two heroes left the Final Offer, a video of Anarky appears in front of them on a mast of the ship.

"Hello, Batman and Spider-Man. I was hoping to get a minute of your time. See, I've got a story to tell you two. About crime and violence. Greed and vengeance. But it's also a story of redemption. Of second chances. Of change. I've planted three bombs where Gotham's corruption is at its strongest. But unlike those I fight to overthrow, I believe in choice. So I offer both of you one: Let them detonate or stop them. Your actions will determine what I do with you two."

The two heroes spotted a man on the walkway above the projector. They quickly made their way up to him to find out what he was doing. As they walked towards them, the man quickly tried to calm them down.

"Whoa, easy now. I ain't lookin for a fight. Got a message, that's all. Anarky says if your gonna make a withdrawal, you better do it soon."

"What are you talking about?" Spidey asked, confused with what the man said.

"It's a clue. One of Anarky's bombs is at the bank. Come on, we need to hurry." Batman says before jumping off the side and gliding towards the bank with Spider-Man in tow.

Once the two got there, They saw that they would have to fight through Anarky's followers to deactivate the bomb. Once they made their presence known, they took down all the thugs as fast as they could. Once they were all down, they quickly rushed toward the bomb.

"Ok, there has to be some sort of wire to c-" Spider-Man didn't get to finish as Batman smashed his fist through the glass and diffused it by hand.

"Or we could just do that." Spider-Man muttered to himself.

Batman ignores his comment and contacts Alfred. "Alfred, we've got a problem."

"So I saw. This Anarky fellow mentioned three bombs, which means two still remain."

"We need to find them."

"I've no doubt you both will sir."

"So, which way is it to Lacey Towers?" Spider-Man asked Batman once he ended the transmission.

"We're not going there just yet."

"Why not?"

"If we're going to figure out what happened, I'm going to need your help. I'm guessing the lens on your mask aren't able to play back crime scenes?"

"Uh... no." he responded.

"Then we need to return to the cave. I have something there that you might be able to use." Batman said before he called for the Bat-Wing. Once the Bat-Wing arrived, it hovered above them as Batman grappled up to it while Spidey used his webs. Once they were inside, the Batwing quickly flew towards the Bat Cave.

* * *

Once the Bat-Wing landed, the two exited the vehicle and were greeted by Alfred.

"Back already sir? I assumed you two would be at Lacey Towers." Alfred said, confused as to why they were here.

"We need something from the cave before we go there, do you still have the lens from the prototype suit?" Batman asked.

"The first ones you made? Of course sir, but may I ask what would you need them for?"

I'll need Spider-Man's help to investigate the crime scene. Since his suit doesn't use a scanner to recreate crime scenes, I figured the lens from the prototype should fit him perfectly."

"Ah, I see. This way sir, they should be on the workbench." Alfred said, gesturing towards Spider-Man. He led him down the steps to the left where the workbench was stationed. There on the table were big white lenses that looked like they fit Spider-Man's mask perfectly.

"Jeez, how big were your eyes going to be?" Spidey joked.

"Will they be able to fit?" Batman said, ignoring his comment.

"Yeah, they should. But I might need to take off my mask to put them on."

"Don't worry sir, we shall give you some privacy." Alfred said before turning around and returning to the Batcomputer.

"Meet me by the Batwing when you're done." Batman added before walking off as well.

A few minutes pass by before Spidey is finally able to put them in his mask. He test them out by expanding and closing the lenses to see if they work.

"Have you finished yet sir?" Spidey heard Alfred call out.

"Yeah, just finished."

"Ah good, so how do they fit? Hope that they meet your needs."

"So far they work pretty well."

"Very good. Master B-, I mean Batman is waiting by the Batwing for you. Best not to keep him waiting." Alfred said.

Spider-Man nodded his head and made his way toward the Batwing. As Batman saw him approach, he asked "Are you ready to go now?" Spidey responded with a quick nod as Batman activated the Batwing. They both hopped in before the Batwing sped off to Lacey Towers.

* * *

Once the Batwing was close enough to Lacey Towers, the two heroes jumped out and made their way across the city.

"So, which one is Lacey Towers." Spidey asked as he swung next to Batman.

"We can't go there yet. First, we'll need to take out the police in the area. The cops investigating this crime should have a relay station set up. It will look like a mobile satellite dish, probably on a rooftop."

"Oh, you mean like right there?" Spidey said while gesturing towards a rooftop nearby that was surrounded by three police guards.

Batman then glided down and kicked the nearby guard and sent him flying towards the other guards. Spidey then landed on one other the other guard before webbing down to the roof. Batman then quickly knocked out the last two guards before taking out his Cryptographic Sequencer.

"What are you doing?" Spidey asked as he walked up to him.

"Hacking into the satellite to listen to the GCPD broadcast." He answered.

"Rubio, what's your twenty?" Came a voice through Batman's device.

"On the balcony for a smoke with Jimenez."

The two then spotted two SWAT guards walking out of the nearby building toward the balcony.

"Those men on the balcony, that could be our way in." Batman stated.

As the heroes began to position themselves above the guards, they heard them discussing the murder.

"Open and shut case. Penguin murdered Black Mask and his lady friend. I mean we found the bastard's stubby like fingerprints right by the bodies."

"Yeah, we got Penguin now. Like to see him squirm outta this one. Fingerprints. Two dead bodies. He's 'bout to do some time."

"Yeah, 'cept Forensics'll take all the credit, and I'm the one who found the prints."

"That's why it's call it first response. First pickin's on the loot, but none of the glory. Me? I'd take the loot over the glory any day." Those were the last words spoken before both Batman and Spider-Man jumped down on top of them and knocked them out.

"After you sir." Spidey said in an upper class accent as he opened the door for Batman. Batman just scowled at him before entering with Spider-Man behind him.


	11. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Hello everyone. Sorry for the long wait. Lot of stuff at home kept me from writing. Hope you enjoy this chapter and please review!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Once the heroes entered the room, they were met with a horrific sight. Two dead bodies, one hung up on a chandelier and the other is on the ground, a broken glass table, and burn marks on the ground.

Spidey felt a wave of anger and sadness wash over him. He should have been here, he should've stopped this. He clenched his fist till he could feel his knuckles turn white.

Batman saw his hand and could see that this was eating him up inside. He could tell what he was thinking. "There's nothing you could have done to stop this."

"But-"

"Listen, you can't always save everyone. All we can do now is find out who did this and stop them. Are you going to be able to do that.

Spidey looked at the ground and sighed before looking back at Batman. "Yes."

"Good. Now, The police believe Penguin murdered Black Mask, but why would he send us here if he was the killer? It doesn't add up."

Batman then turned on his Detective Mode and began to scan the fingerprints of the victim on the floor.

"So how do you turn on this 'Detective Mode'?" Spidey asked. As soon as he said that he blinked and suddenly everything turned grey and there was some sort of scanner in front of him.

_I have no clue how I did that._ "Uh, never mind."

Once Batman finished scanning the victim's fingerprints he said, "This crime took place days ago. The fire and the exposure to the elements make identifying the victims difficult. The male victim is wearing a black mask, but I can't positively identify him as Roman Sionis without a DNA analysis, something I can't do in the field."

Batman turned around and was about to scan the female victim but saw that Spider-Man was one step ahead of him. He was facing the victim while hanging upside down from a web that was attached to the ceiling.

_Alright how do I work th- _Spidey cut off his train of thought when he felt his lenses zoom in on the hand of the victim and the scanner began to, well, scan the fingerprints.

Once the results from the scan appeared in his vision, he turned his head to Batman

"Looks like the female victim is Tiffany Ambrose. Roman Sionis' girlfriend, or one of them, at least. She was many things, but an angel wasn't one of them. Long list of priors. But nothing to indicates that she was the target here."

Batman turned his towards the burnt area on the ground and began scanning the traces of fire. "The fire spread as a result of a Molotov cocktail thrown into the room. It may have been intended to destroy evidence." He said as a recreation of the crime scene showed a man throwing a molotov. Not only was Batman able to see this, but Spider-Man could as well.

_This is so cool._ Spider-Man thought in astonishment.

Batman then turns around and scans the victim. "The shallow trajectory of the bullet suggests the shooter could be someone of Penguin's height'." Batman states as the recreation shows Penguin shooting the victim.

"True, but the grooves on the floor suggest that the victim was killed by someone leaning back in a chair." Spider-Man concludes as the recreation changes to show someone sitting in a chair and shooting the victim.

Once the recreation ends, Spidey looks up and scans the other victim. "This bullet was fired from a revolver. Ballistics analysis indicates a low angle of trajectory. The shooter could have been Penguin or someone of his height." He says as the recreation shows Penguin once more.

"Hmm, but the pattern in the gunpowder residue suggests the bullet was actually fired by someone lying on the ground." Batman responds as the recreation replaces Penguin and instead shows two men on the floor and one of them firing a gun at Tiffany.

Batman sees a handprint on the wall next to the body and scans it. "These fingerprints are a match for the Penguin. But they're on top of the soot from the fire. The cops were right, Penguin was in the room. But these prints prove he was here AFTER the murders were committed. If he didn't kill Black Mask, who did…? The only thing we know for certain is that Tiffany's shooter was lying on the floor. But why?"

"Hang on, I got something here." Spidey says crouching down.

"What?"

"These white streaks are shoe polish. Whoever shot Tiffany was being dragged along the ﬂoor." he says, turning his head toward Batman.

"So, besides the victims, there were two other people in the room: Tiffany's shooter, and whoever was dragging the shooter. The location from which the male victim was shot may tell us more." Batman says as he moves towards the broken table. Once he's close enough, he spots the blood on the floor and begins scanning it.

"The DNA here doesn't belong to either of the victims. Whose is it?"

"Maybe it's the shooter's?" Spidey questions as the recreation shows one man tackling another through the table and begins a fight.

"Could be. Hmm." Batman says as the recreation plays again. " The fight broke out when someone startled the shooter. It's not clear who won the fight. It could have been either one of them. We should review the evidence to see if we can learn anything more about either the intruder, or the shooter."

As the two rewinded the scene before them, Batman noticed a piece of fabric sticking out from the edge of the door that led to the balcony. He quickly scanned it for analysis and told Spider-Man the results.

"Fabric analysis indicates the intruder was wearing a white suit or sport jacket. This fabric swatch could help identify the intruder, but I still can't identify the male victim's shooter. There's one impact area we haven't checked for clues."

"I'm on it." Spider-Man said as he searched the kitchen area for clues until coming across blood on the counter. As the scene played out in front of them, Spidey began reading off the analysis. "This DNA is from the female victim. The level of oxidation suggests it has been here for several days. If we review the evidence, we may be able to find out what she was doing when she was attacked." He said as the reenactment ended.

Batman nodded his head as they once again rewinded the scene. When they watched it again, Batman saw a phone had been knocked to the floor next to him.

"What did you find?" Spider-Man asked after Batman had stayed silent for a few seconds.

"She was sending text messages to Roman Sionis, about someone named 'The Joker.'

"Uh, who?" Spidey asked.

Batman ignored his question as he began piecing together what happened. " Someone killed Black Mask, but this crime took place several days ago, and we saw Black Mask earlier tonight. The only answers I have raise more questions: Who is 'the Joker'? Was he the killer here? Or is he one of the assassins? We have a body, an unknown shooter, and an unknown assailant who attacked the shooter. I need to match the DNA samples against the records in the National Criminal Database to identify who was in the room."

After he finished speaking, Batman quickly contacted Alfred. "Alfred, we need access to the National Criminal database."

"Well, the only way to do that would be to infiltrate the Gotham City Police Department."

"Then that's where we're going."

"Sir. You'd need to physically hack into their servers. If you insist on doing something that foolish you'll need a powerful nonlethal weapon. I recommend coming back here to pick up your concussion detonator."

"Not a bad idea."

Once Batman ended the transmission, Spider-Man decided to add his thoughts on the plan.

"You're not serious about breaking into the GCPD are you?" He asked, hoping that he wasn't serious.

He was answered with silence as Batman left the room. _Oh boy. _

As soon as Spider-Man was able to catch up to Batman, he saw Batman leaping on top of a SWAT officer who thought that bringing a shield to fight the vigilantes was a good idea. Once Batman knocked him out, the two quickly left the building.

Once outside, Batman called in the Batwing to pick them up. As soon as it was above their heads, they quickly grappled/webbed up to it and made their way back to the cave.


	12. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Hello everybody! ****Welcome to the next chapter of the story!**** Sorry it took so long, wrote a lot more than expected. Please feel free to review!**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Once the two arrived back at the batcave, Alfred was waiting for them to tell them the news. " Welcome back, gentlemen! The concussion detonator is on the workbench. Remember, if you use that instead of your fists, you'll do less lasting damage to those police officers and civil servants."

"Noted." Batman replied as he and Spider-Man reached the workbench. Lying in front of them were two concussion detonators waiting to be picked up. Once they grabbed the detonators, they quickly moved towards the Batwing and hopped back in.

"Alright, next stop GCPD." Spider-Man mumbled to himself as the Batwing zoomed out of the cave.

* * *

Once the Batwing dropped them off near the GCPD building, Alfred alerted them of the current situation of the GCPD. " Gentlemen, guards have been doubled at police precincts since Loeb's murder. You'll need to find a way to sneak in that won't attract attention."

"Understood, thanks" Batman replied before he ended the transmission.

Once the two heroes perched themselves on the nearby gargoyles above the rooftops, they spotted a few guards blocking the rooftop entrance. They then began silently taking down nearby guards when no one was looking. While they were doing that, they could hear two of the guards speaking to each other.

"You believe what went down at the plaza?"

"Yeah. I heard. Ain't buyin' it though."

"What do you mean? You saw the guy they brought in."

"So wait… we give 'em space to do their little arms deal, but then some 'monster in a cape' and a 'human spider' drops'em from a building and a Christmas tree breaks his fall? And one of his own thugs walks off with the cash. You buy that?"

"And so, what? Now we don't get paid? No, sir. I'm gettin' paid, one way or another."

"Marks's got the guy over in interrogation right now. You want to go and rough him up a bit afterwards?"

"Oh. I'm planning on it."

"Like the way you think."

As soon as the guards finished their conversation, one of them gets hit in the head with a batarang while the other suddenly finds himself webbed to the wall behind him. The two vigilanties drop down near them and Batman quickly knocks out the guard lying on the floor. Once the guard was out, they swiftly moved inside.

Once inside, they spotted an elevator in front of them. To the left of the elevator were a set of stairs.

"So, I guess it would be too easy to use the elevator?" Joked Spider-Man.

Batman once again remained silent as he descended down the stairs and spotted a weak wall on the right. He took out the explosive gel and sprayed the wall before detonating it.

_Well, this is certainly one way of using an elevator. _Spider-Man thought as the two dropped down on top of the elevator and eavesdropped on the guards in the elevator as it began moving down.

"Hey, you hear that?"

"Yeah. Probably another water pipe bursting. Love to go take a look, but you know, my shifts over."

While the officers talked with each other, the two began a discussion of their own. "So, what's the plan?" Spider-Man whispered.

"It won't be easy. But if we're going to access the National Criminal Database and find out what happened at Lacey Towers, We need to find the sewer room, without being discovered."

Spider-Man let out a snort before saying "Easier said than done." as the elevator came to a complete stop.

Two then notice a ledge above them and quickly climb up. They then climb up another ledge before walking down a small walkway towards an air vent cover which is forcefully removed. As they make their way through the vent, they spot Jim Gordon having some sort of meeting in what looked like a bullpen.

"I know everyone's still in shock over what happened to commissioner Loeb, but we need to stay focused on our primary targets for tonight. So far Waylon Jones has been processed, and we're following an anonymous tip on Deathstroke's location, but we've got a ways to go before sunrise."

"There eight assassins in town tonight From the intel we've been gathering, they are among the most dangerous criminals on record, period. After interrogating Waylon Jones, we've learned that they're all competing for a huge bounty which Black Mask has offered for the heads of the Bat _and_ Spider."

"Where do I sign up?" One of the officers commented before chuckling.

"I thought they were made up! Or, the Bat at least." Another guard commented.

"Alright cut the chatter, people. Our goal is to ensure order in this city. So our number one priority becomes bringing in the Bat and Spider BEFORE these assassin's get to them. Now the closer it gets to morning, the more desperate the assassins will grow, and if they are still out there, the more damage they'll cause to the city, as they try to find or attract them. All right, dismissed."

Once their meeting was done, the two moved forward until they reached the end of the ventilation shaft where a guard was standing a few inches away.

"Yeah, well they was supposed to be guarding the crime scene, not gabbin' No wonder the Bat and Spider got the drop on'em. Tell'em to keep their eyes open next time." The guard said to someone over a walkie-talkie.

As soon as he hung up, Batman kicked open the vent cover and knocked the guard off his feet before uppercutting him on the floor to knock him out.

Before Spidey could make a joke, Alfred called both of them through their communicators. "Must you be so brutal Sir? These are city employees."

"They're as corrupt as they come, and they're in our way." Batman responded.

"I wish you'd think twice about that approach, sir. You never know when you might need their help. At any rate, your objective is the GCPD Server room. I've marked it on your map."

Once the call ended, the two opened the door to the next room. They spotted three SWAT officers watching a monitor of other officers beating on two helpless prisoners. As they cheered on the scene, Spider-Man took out the new device he and Batman got at the Batcave.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Batman nodded before taking out his own concussion detenatorand threw it at one guard while Spider-Man threw his at another. Once they exploded, the guards became dizzy and started throwing blind punches at the air. The heroes quickly took the advantage and knocked them all out cold. Once they had been dealt with Spider-Man tried to open a nearby door but found it locked.

Batman quickly scanned the room for a way out and spotted a vent cover above them. He took out his Batclaw and shot it at the vent and forcefully pulled it off. He grappled up to it and made his way to the other side with Spider-Man in tow.

Once on the other side they found themselves above the GCPD SWAT-Conference Room. Below them were several armed guards with Branden at the front of the room.

"We won't stand a chance against that many armed men. We can use Deathstroke's remote claw to pass above their heads undetected." Batman quietly said to Spider-Man.

"You can do that, Me? I think I'll take the old fashioned way." He said before jumping up to the ceiling and began crawling to the other side. While Batman was moving across the line he made from the Remote Claw. He began to listen in on the conversation below him.

"Alright, listen up. While you jokers were playing clean-up crew at Blackgate, I was making us some money. I worked out a deal with our pal Black Mask. If any of us can kill the Bat and Spider before the assassins get to him, we get the bounty, all fifty million dollars of it. For those of you who ain't too good with the math that means we all retire early."

"Nice!" Commented one officer.

"That's what I'm talking about." Exclaimed another.

"Let's take him down then!" Shouted another guard.

"Yeah, what are we waiting for?" Another guard agreed.

"Enough. We only get one night to get this done. So whatever they put you on tonight, I want you to blow it off. Finding and killing the Bat is your number one priority. That clear?"

"Yes sir."

"All clear."

"Clear as day, sir"

"You got it!"

"Sir, yes sir."

"Questions? Shout 'em out."

"How we gonna keep this from Gordon and the rest of the force?"

"Well for starters, you're gonna keep your damn trap shut. Anyone else?"

"Sir, what about the assassins? Will they see us as competition?"

"Yeah, I didn't sign up to be on those guys' hit list."

"Look. Y'all put your lives at risk when you signed up for SWAT. Now you want to make the big money, you're going to have to accept bigger risk. That's how it works. Anyone wants out can hand me their badge. Didn't think so. We good to go?"

"Wait Branden, how do we know Black Mask will keep his end of the deal, if we do kill the Bat and Spider."

"He's good for the cash, trust me. And I know where he's stashing it."

"If you know where he's got the cash, why don't we go get it?"

"'Cause the last thing we need is a war with Black Mask and his men. Come on guys, let's do this.

Once Batman dropped down into the next room, he saw Spider-Man webbing a guard down to the ground by a coffee machine. Batman turned to the door and saw that it was locked with a control panel. He took out his Cryptographic Sequencer and hacked the panel to unlock it. Once they walked through, they spotted two guards with their backs to them having a discussion while another was banging on a coffee machine and another was walking around.

"Then we treat him like any other scumbag. If we can't find dirt, we make our own."

"I'm listenin'."

"What if Captain Gordon allowed all the perps in the holding cells to go free?"

"You mean… we set them loose?"

"Little prison riot, right here in GCPD. Makes him look like he doesn't have control, right?"

"I like it. How do we make it happen?"

"Lemme think a minute."

A few seconds pass before the other officer asks, "You figure something out?"

"I'm still thinkin', calm down."

Once he said that, Batman shot his Remote Claw at one of the officers and attached him to a fire extinguisher. Once it hit the officer, it created smoke and blinded all the nearby officers. Spider-Man shot two strings of webs at two guards and pulled them to the floor while Batman Knocked down the other two guards and smashed their skulls into the ground.

Two heroes soon found themselves walking into the SWAT-Interrogation Room where a familiar face was sitting in a chair while an officer was leaning back on the glass in front of the heroes.

"So what does this 'disruptor' of yours do?."

"Little bit of this… Little bit of that. Mostly though, it does a whole lot of none-of-your-damn business." Loose Lips responded.

"You wanna play it like that? Alright. Maybe I'll have the guys over at evidence lockup take a look. They can get kinda rough, though. Hope it's not fragile."

"You wanna play hardball buddy? How's about I tell my cousin at the Gazette about the payments you boys' been extortion' from Penguin and the like?"

"Scum like you's got a cousin at the Gazette? 'Spect me to believe that?"

"Don't see ya callin' evidence lockup, now, do I? You cops are all the same. You ain't getting nothing' out'a me."

"Like I said, I got all night."

"You and me both, pal."

Batman then smashed through the glass and grabbed the officer and pulled him into the room they were in and punched him in the face hard, knocking him out.

"Not you two again!" Loose Lips exclaimed.

With nowhere to run, Batman quickly grabbed Loose Lips by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

"Talk. Or you won't be walking anywhere. Ever." Batman growled.

"No way! You gotta answer for droppin' me off that rooftop, buddy."

"No. You have to answer to me. How does this 'disruptor' work?"

"Ask one of the pigs. They got it in evidence lock-up."

"How bout we take a little walk up to the roof?"

"You know, that sounds like a great idea! I hear you can see the whole city from there." Spider-Man added.

"Okay! Okay! You win. It… It jams weapons, overrides electronic locks, alright? Now… you gonna let me go!"

"How'd that work out for you last time?" Batman said before knocking him out and throwing him to the floor

The two then exited the room and found themselves in the same room the guards from earlier were watching. The duo perched themselves above the doors and saw the SWAT officers still beating on the prisoners.

"Hey. We got rights!" A prisoner shouted as he was being punched.

"Who told you that? Huh? Your buddy, Anarky?" The officer responded.

"He will wipe this city clean of your filth!"

"Yeah? If he's gonna wipe things clean, he should start with you!"

"Hahahaha. Good one." Another officer encouraged.

The two heroes finally had enough and launched themselves at the officers. Spider-Man jumped in the air and performed a web kick at an officer and sent him flying into another officer. Another officer tried to throw a propane tank at him but Spider-Man used his webs to throw it back at him while saying, "I think you dropped something!"

Batman on the other hand, was attacking an officer with a flurry of punches on a heavily armored SWAT officer while two other guards would try to land a hit on him but would be countered everytime. He finished the officer with an uppercut and turned his attention to an incoming officer. Batman punched him across the face, turned him around, and threw him over his body by the officer's neck, effectively knocking him out.

Once there was only one guard left, Spider-Man uppercuted him into the air and slammed his body down to the ground, he didn't get back up.

Over the PA system, it seemed that the heroes presenice was known as the woman talking warned everyone of 'intruders' in the building.

_So much for going unnoticed. _Spider-Man thought as he approached one of the prisoners. "You guys should get yourselves to a nearby shelter."

"You kiddin'? That's where they round us up! You don't get it. Anarky gets it, but you… you don't get it, man!"

While they were talking, Batman discovered that the door in front of them was locked. Scanning the area for another way through, he saw a few pieces of wooden boards blocking a window. He quickly sprays the wood with gel and detenates it. Once he enters, he quickly moves out of the office the window was connected to and enters the next room with Spider-Man behind him.

The duo found themselves in a locker room, but it seemed they were not alone as they listened in on someone talking to someone else over a walkie talkie.

"Are you listening to me, I don't care what's going on out there, I gotta deal with this problem. If I don't give this bastard what he wants, he'll send the tape to the press. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

A few seconds of silence pass before the officer responds, "That's the best you got? How'm I gonna whack'em if I don't know who he is!? Guy's a mystery. Complete friggin' enigma. Yeah, great advice. Thanks."

Once he hung up, Batman wrapped his arm around his neck before falling back and slamming his head into the ground. Once the officer was dealt with, Batman moved over to the vent cover on the wall and quickly ripped it off. The two crawled through and suddenly dropped down. Once they began crawling through another air duct, they could hear Captain Gordon arguing with his daughter, Barbra.

"They're out there catching the criminals that you let walk free!"

"Those two are the worst kinds of criminals. The kind who thinks their actions are justified, who acts completely outside the system."

"The system is broken!" Barbra shouted before leaving.

"Barbra! Wait." Gordon said as he followed her out the room.

_That's right! You go girl! _Spider-Man cheered on in his head while Batman quietly opened the vent cover and slid it off to the left. Once they were able to stand up, they propelled themselves onto the higher platform and climbed the latter. Once at the top they found themselves back in the Bullpen room. They quickly realised that the room was filled with armed guards.

Over the loudspeaker, they could hear Branden talking to them. "There's 50 million bucks riding on this. So I don't wanna hear any excuses. Bag the Bat and Spider and let's get paid!"

The duo quickly split up and perched themselves on the vantage points above the officers. Spider-Man was the first to make a move. He quickly and silently jumped down behind a guard that was patrolling across a walkway and wrapped him up in webs before stringing him up from the ceiling.

* * *

Batman perched himself above a guard before dropping down, grabbed the guard, held him by his neck, and dropped with a rope tied around his leg. This created a lot of noise as the other officers quickly moved to the vantage point their fellow guard was strung up from.

* * *

As the officers searched the area, one unfortunate guard found himself above a floor grate that was hiding a certain wall crawler. Once he was in the right position, Spider-Man jumped out and yelled "SURPRISE!" as he wrapped his legs around the officer's neck and flipped him onto his head. Spider-Man could hear the officers quickly moving toward him and retreated back to the vantage point.

* * *

While another officer was walking by an office cubicle, he didn't see Batman on the other side of it as he reached through the glass and grabbed the officer before grabbing his head and smashing it into the wall.

* * *

While perched on the railing of the walkway, Spider-Man pulled a guard up with his webs, pulled his body forward so his head would hit the railing, and strung him up. Before leaving, he whispered, "Good night." before retreating to the shadows.

* * *

While Batman was silently taking down a guard who had unintentionally isolated himself, Spider-Man saw that another guard was approaching the area where Batman was and quickly web zipped down to him and planted his foot on his skull, slamming him to the floor.

* * *

Once the last guard realized he was alone, he began to panic and slowly moved around the room, shaking all over. Batman landed right in front of him which caused the guard to scream. Before he could shoot the vigilante, Spider-Man shot a web at the officer's gun, ripped it out of his hands while yelling out "Yoink!", swung it around, and threw it back at his face.

Once they were finished, Batman moved toward the double doors that were locked with a control panel and began hacking it. While Batman was opening the door, Spider-Man couldn't help but feel amused as the same woman on the PA system didn't believe the description she got of the two intruders.

As they walked into the next room, the duo spotted two officers standing next to each other, overlooking the firing range where Branden and his men were practicing their aim.

"Shouldn't you be searching your quadrant?" One of them said.

"Eh. I'll leave that for the boys in SWAT." The other responded.

"Why's that?"

"Ain't you heard? Branden made a deal with Black Mask. They're tryin' to kill the Bat and collect the bounty."

"You got to be kidding me. Gordon know about this?"

"Probably. But what's he gonna do? What can he do? Hell he's lucky if Branden and those guys ever listen to him."

"This department is so screwed! Hey, how do we get in on the bounty?"

Before another word could be spoken, Batman grabbed both of their heads and crashed them into each other, knocking both of them out.

"You don't have to look far." Spider-Man muttered to himself. As they walked into the next room, they saw that the door ahead of them was also locked with a control panel. However when Batman went to hack it, his Cryptographic Sequencer began bugging out.

"What happened?" Spider-Man asked, wondering what caused the device to shut down.

"They're using a security protocol I'm not familiar with and the windows are reinforced glass. Hmm. The disruptor in the evidence locker might do the trick."

"Alright, lead the way." Spider-Man said as the two began to make their way to the evidence locker.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

On the other side of the door were two guards who appeared to be talking to each other before being interrupted. They quickly took a fighting stance and charged at the two. They didn't stand a chance against them as they were quickly knocked out by the duo.

Once they were both down, Batman called Alfred. "Alfred. We can't access the evidence locker. We need an alternative route."

"The 'evidence locker', sir? Well, according to these schematics, it adjoins an old elevator shaft which you can access via the infirmary. You two should be able to break in from there. I've added it to your maps."

As soon as the call ended, Batman used his Cryptographic Sequencer to open up the elevator shaft.

"Going down." Spider-Man muttered to himself as he and Batman jumped down. They ran down the long hallway and turned left and went down a set of stairs. They found themselves in the entrance of the Holding Cells with 6 guards talking to one of the many prisoners in the area.

"It's gotta look like an accident, like Gordon lost control. What we need is a classic prison riot." They heard one of the guards say.

"You want a riot? Let me out." The prisoner responded.

"Easy, tiger. There's cameras around here: We ain't letting no one out."

"He's got a point. Let this one loose, It'll be friggin' pandemonium around here." One of the other SWAT guards commented.

"I said. Let me out."

"Like I said. We ain't lettin' no one out. But ain't no harm in tellin' him about that latching mechanism on the door there."

"That one we just had repaired?"

"Well, to be honest I don't know how well it was repaired."

"If I was you pigs, I'd get going."

"We'll be outta your way soon enough."

Batman quickly threw a Concussion Detonator at the SWAT team and quickly sprung into action after it detonated.

"You got it wrong officers, your job is to put criminals _away, not_ set them free." Spidey joked as he kicked an officer in the face. "Just wait until I tell your mothers, they're going to be so disappointed."

The guards didn't stand a chance against the duo as they were all quickly taken down. Once there was one officer left, Spider-Man kicked him into the air while Batman jumped up and slammed back down on the ground, ending the fight.

"Hey… what are you two supposed to be?" One of the criminals in the cells said once the brawl was over.

"What the hell are THEY doin' here!?" Another said.

"Hey! You! Bat freak! You broke my arm, y'know that!?"

"I hear there's a huge price on both your heads. Come to turn it in?"

"Nice outfit, freaks. I'm sure your both of your parents are proud."

"Is… is that them?"

"They're workin' with the cops now?"

"They're lucky there's bars between us or I'd put the hurt on'em."

"Now I heard the rumors, but I didn't think they were real."

While the criminals had been talking, Spider-Man had found the door to the Infirmary. He pressed the button to open the gate and walked down the set of stairs and into the next room with Batman.

Once inside the Infirmary, Alfred called them, "Good, you both have made it to the infirmary. Now look for an entrance to an old elevator shaft. That will take you to the evidence locker."

"On it." Batman responded before hanging up. He spotted a weak wall covering the old elevator shaft and applied the Explosive Gel on it before detonating it. Once walking a bit further, they found themselves in the Derelict Elevator Shaft. Seeing as both their left and right was blocked off by steam coming out of the pipes, they both chose to go up. They stood atop a catwalk before Batman used his Remote Claw on the anchor points above.

They crawled through the vent and made it into the Evidence Locker. At the end of the room was the device they had been looking for. On the table was the Disruptor that Loose Lips had told them about. Batman quickly examined it before putting away on his belt.

"Now we should be able to bypass the security on the server room door. The disruptor should allow us to get past this gate." Batman stated.

"Aww, how come you get all the cool toys?" Spider-Man complained.

Batman only glared at him before moving back to the vent that they had entered from. Suddenly, they heard a voice speak from the intercom. "Priority one alert. Hearing a report of a prisoner disturbance in Holding Cells. Emergency protocols engaged."

"They didn't." Spider-Man said to himself in disbelief as he and Batman ran back through the infirmary and out the door to see the gate they had gone through earlier suddenly close. Batman saw a jammer placed above the control panel.

_The only way to get through is to use the Disruptor. _Batman mentally noted before he quickly used the Disruptor on it and began hacking the panel. Once it opened, they saw an officer fall right in front of them.

The room was in complete chaos. The criminals not only killed a bunch of police officers, but had also started a fire. There were papers on the ground and prisoners beating the crap out of any guard still breathing.

"Yep, they did." Spider-Man said to himself again as the prisoners quickly swarmed the duo. Once the guards felt the beating stop, they ran off to a safer area.

While fighting them off, they noticed that one of the prisoners stood out. He had tubes attached to his back that went into his arms. He pressed a button on his wrist and it seemed to have given him some sort of power boost.

Batman quickly ripped off the tubes from his back before kicking him into Spider-Man and was greeted with a roundhouse kick. He spun around and stumbled back toward Batman who finished him off with a knee to the chin, and to no one's shock, the other prisoners didn't stand a better chance.

* * *

Once the two had found a way to exit the area, they passed by a guard on the ground with two paramedics checking on him.

"250. Charging!" One of them said.

"Clear?"

"CLEAR!"

"I got a pulse!"

"Alright. Call it in. Let's get him to Gotham General."

" Will do, soon as he stabilizes."

They quickly made their way back to the GCPD-Investigations entrance and worked on opening the door. Once it was unlocked they walked in to find the teenager from earlier on her computer. Once she noticed them, she sprung up to her feet with a gasp.

"Easy… we need access to the National Criminal Database." Batmansaid, trying to calm her down.

" It's right here." She responded while pointing at the machine.

"Spend a lot of time here?" Spider-Man asked.

"You have no idea." She said as Batman pulled out some sort of device and plugged it into the machine.

"Cool Pwnbox, you're bypassing the network's security. But you'll need to physically bridge the intranet to the external telecom wires if you want to uplink remotely."

_Smart kid. _Spider-Man thought before Batman decided to voice his own thoughts.

"This kind of knowledge could get a young girl into a lot of trouble." He said while pulling the Pwnbox out of the machine.

They began to walk away before they were interrupted. "They run under the building."

"What?" Spider-Man asked as he and Batman both turned back to the girl.

"The telecom wires. You can access them through the sewers."

As they turned to leave again, they were once more interrupted. "Wait… Why do you guys do what you do?"

"Because I made a promise." Batman replied. Barbra then turned her head to look at Spider-Man, silently asking for his answer.

"Because with great power comes-" Suddenly a smoke grenade was thrown into the room. "Get out of here." Batman said as she started coughing. She quickly ran toward the entrance where armed guards were waiting.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Shouted one of them.

"You idiots. It's me! What are you thinking?"

"Who were you talking to in there?"

"Voice chat on my laptop you idiots! What decade do you people live in? Jeez."

While Barbra was distracting the guards, the duo found an air vent for them to escape the room. While they moved through the vent, They updated Alfred on their situation. "Alfred. we're on our way out, but before I can access the server remotely, I need to hack into the telecom wires under the GCPD."

"You should be able to access them from the sewers on your map, which run below the building. I'll peg the closest entrance on both your maps." He replied before hanging up.

After exiting the vent, they found themselves at the Shooting Range from earlier. Only this time, there were less guards and were talking to Branden over their walkie-talkies.

"Remember, shoot to kill, and when Gordon asks, the Bat and Spider shot first." Branden said.

"Sir, they say that neither of them have a gun."

"Of course they have guns! And if they ain't got one, then you know what to do. It's not like you haven't done it before"

"Sir. Yes sir!"

The duo were hiding behind a stack of boxes when suddenly Batman pulled out the Disruptor.

"What are you doing?" Spider-Man whispered.

"Penguin's man said the disruptor can be used to jam their weapons." He whispered back.

Spider-Man had a skeptical look behind his mask before shrugging. "Better you than me."

Once Batman fired a charge at one of the officer's guns, Spider-Man quickly sprung into action by rolling out of cover and shot a web line at the other officer's gun. He yanked out of his hands before swinging it back at his head while shouting out. "Heads up!"

Once all the guards were rendered unconscious, the two left the room and moved back to the Bullpen where an elevator was waiting for them. Once they entered and pushed the elevator button to go up, the doors they had just come from were forcefully kicked open by Branden and two other guards.

"There they are!" Branden shouted before opening fire. The two acted quickly and pressed themselves against the walls on both sides of the elevator. Thankfully, the door of the elevator shut before they could do anything else.

"Man, we help lock up the criminals that they're supposed to be catching and this is the thanks we get?" Spider-Man complained.

"You'll get used to it." Batman responded.

Once the elevator came to a complete stop, the doors opened to reveal Captain Gordon standing there. He pulled out his gun but it was rendered useless when Spider-Man shot a web over the barrel. Batman knocked the gun out of his hand before twisting his arm behind his back and made him go down on one knee.

"We don't want to hurt you. But you need to stay out of our way." Batman said.

"Never." Gordon replied

"Look buddy, we're here to help. We're on your side." Spider-Man said as Batman let go of his arm.

"My side? My side works within the law. My side doesn't leave suspects with broken bones, and missing teeth. We've earned Gotham's respect." He said while getting in Spider-Man's face.

"What fantasy are you living in where that's true?" Spider-Man snapped back.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Branden and his men locked their sights on the vigilanties, ready to shoot.

"Gordon! Clear the line of fire!" Branden yelled.

"Hold your fire! If they move, take them down!" He shouted while getting in between the guards and the heroes. "You two have nowhere to run."

"Move Gordon. I'm taking them down."

Unfortunately for him, Batman had other plans. He suddenly threw down a smoke bomb and quickly moved Gordon out of the line of fire. However this resulted in him getting shot in the shoulder. Luckily his armor was able to prevent the bullet from causing too much damage. Batman quickly used his Batclaw on a guard by pulling him over to him and knocking him off his feet before slamming his fist into his chest, resulting in him smacking hard against the floor.

Spider-Man made quick work of the other guard. He shot a few webs at him until he was close enough to the wall behind him before webbing him to it. After Batman knocked out the other guard, the only one left standing was Branden.

Before he could do anything, Spider-Man shot a web string at his chest and pulled Branden towards him. "Here you go." Spider-Man said as he stepped out the way, causing Branden to move towards Batman, who knocked him down with a clothesline. He tried to quickly get up by getting on his hands and knees, but Spider-Man ran toward him and punt kicked him in the face. That seemed to do the trick because Branden didn't try to get back up.

"Well, that was exciting. Are you ok?" Spider-Man asked Batman while gesturing to his shoulder.

"I'm fine." Was the only response he got. As they left, Spider-Man couldn't help but say to himself, "Man, I can't believe we took down a whole police department. What a day."


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Once the duo stepped out of the building, Alfred contacted them to update their current objective. "Gentlemen, I've highlighted a nearby manhole on your map. Those sewer tunnels lead directly under the GCPD."

"Good work Alfred." Batman replied.

"Oh and sir, And Sir, do try to keep out of the uh… muck down there. Remember who has to clean your suit."

_I know how he feels. _Spider-Man mentally groaned as he remembered the last time he had to go down into the sewers of New York. It took him days to get the stench out.

The two heroes spotted two guards in front of them on the helicopter pad. Batman snuck up behind them and slammed their heads together, effectively knocking them out.

Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice speaking through their communicators. "Hello? …Hello? Batman? Spider-Man? It's Barbara. Sorry for, uh, hacking into your comms, but I need a favor. Some evidence crates have gone missing. Army-grade stuff and no one here's doing anything about it. So I'm sending you two their GPS location information. Use your weapon disruptor on any crates you find. It'll fry their circuits and render the stuff useless." She said before hanging up.

_Got to admit, the fact that she hacked our comms is impressive. _Spider-Man thought to himself.

As they approached the manhole from above, they noticed that the area had been surrounded by SWAT. As they drew closer, they could hear them talking to each other.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm in on this thing with everyone else. But how does he plan to beat those assassins at their own game? I mean they're some of the best killers in the world."

"You know Branden. I don't think he's planning anything. Just doing the first thing that pops into his head."

"Yeah well that ain't gonna work this time."

"It worked for him in the past…"

"Yeah I guess it has!"

To avoid another fight, they found an alternative route to the manhole via an alleyway that they dropped down to. Once they were standing next to it, they opened it up and jumped down into the sewers. Once down there, they made their way through the tunnels. However, they noticed explosives around them as they were moving.

"This doesn't look good." Spider-Man said out loud.

"Hmm, who could have put these here?" Batman questioned before they heard a noise ahead of them.

"I think we're about to find out." Spider-Man said as they reached the end of the tunnel. Below them was a platform that had Black Mask's men watching another thug perform martial arts moves towards the air. Once he was done, a few of the men started clapping.

"Strange. These are Black Mask's men. Not the kind of guys I'd expect to find running around in the sewers." Batman commented.

"Could be worse. At least he sent an expert martial artist to protect us down here." One of the thugs commented.

"Protect us from what? The rats?" Another thug jokes.

"No. The Bat and Spider you idiot."

"The Bat and Spider. Those two have better things to do tonight than hang out in the sewers."

"I hope you're right but just in case, I'm glad we've got ol' Kung Fu on our side."

"Whatever makes you feel better, I'm just worried about how I'm gonna get this smell outta my clothes."

"Boss is makin' some big moves tonight." Another thug said to a different thug.

"Yeah, we gonna remind people why Black Mask is the name to be feared in Gotham City."

"You sound like an insurance commercial."

"What, you ain't with us? 'Cause you know, you're either with us or-"

"Hey, I'm buying the boss a hundred percent. I just don't see how all the crap he's got us doin' tonight is gonna put money in our pockets."

"I'm sure he's got his reasons. An' I ain't about to ask what they are."

"Me neither."

The two heroes decided that now was the best time to show themselves. Batman glide kicked the nearest thug while Spider-Man webbed zipped over to another and kicked him in the chest. One of the martial artist decided to test his luck with Batman by trying to strike him. However, Batman countered every move he threw before headbutting him to the ground. Another thug tried to hit him but it was countered as BAtman broke his arm.

The other thugs weren't doing so well either with Spider-Man as he knocked out one thug with a spinning heel kick and uppercutted another. The second martial artist thug tried to surprise him with a flying kick but was easily reversed as Spider-Man sidestepped him before grabbing his extended leg and tossing him into a nearby wall.

"Well, so much for your protection." Spider-Man said before knocking out the last thug a jab to the gut followed by an uppercut that sent him up in the air a little and ending it with a kick to the chest before he could hit the ground.

He looked over and saw Batman finishing up half of the thugs by breaking the poor man's leg.

They looked down on the ground and someone had painted _GCPD 500M _with an arrow pointed towards a tunnel that was blocked off by wooden boards. Just as Batman went to apply explosive gel, they heard a voice from behind them.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The two turned around, expecting someone to be there but all they saw were unconscious men and a pile of sand.

_Wait a second. _Spider-Man thought before suddenly, the sand became bigger and bigger until it formed into a human like figure. Then more and more details started appearing until it formed into a man with brown hair, a green striped shirt, brown pants, and black shoes. Spider-Man was able to recognize him instantly.

"Sandman, what a surprise."

"Long time no see bug, we've got a lot of catching up to do." Sandman said as he creates a sand-like hammer on his right arm and tries to squash the duo with it, only for the two heroes to roll out of the way. "I see you've made some new friends."

"Don't worry, we can catch up with each other once you're safely back at Strykers." Spider-Man quipped as Sandman tries to hit him again only to hit nothing. "Oh, I forgot to introduce you two. Batman this is Sandman, Sandman this is- Woah!" He was cut while dodging another swing.

"Hold still!" Sandman yells as he keeps trying to hit the wall crawler. While he was distracted, Batman spotted a weak pipe above him and thought up an idea. He threw a Batarang at it, causing water to come out and spray Sandman. His body quickly turned to mud which caused him to look at the colporate.

"Look what you did!" He yelled. Before he could do anything, he felt something kick him in the back, causing him to move forward toward Batman who greeted him with an uppercut. Sandman backed up a bit, dazed. The duo took advantage of this and began hitting him from all sides. However, Sandman was able to recover and turn back into sand. He produced spikes from his body, trying to get the heroes away from him.

Sandman then turned his left arm into a sand-like ball with spikes and tried to hit Batman with it, but kept hitting nothing but -Man used his break from Sandman to spot another pipe above the villain. Shooting out two lines of webs, he pulled down the pipe and soaked Sandman in water again. This caused Sandman to try and move away from where the water was pouring out as his body turned back into mud.

Using Sandman's momentarily distraction, Batman was able to land a few strikes across his face until Spider-Man joined in and began punching all over as well. Sandman tried to take a swing at Spider-Man but his efforts were rewarded by missing and getting a kick to the face.

Once more, Sandman spawned sharp sand spikes from his body, causing the heroes to roll out of the way.

"That's it!" Sandman shouted as he made himself bigger and turned his skin and clothes into complete sand. Then, he created both a hammer and a spiked ball as his hands. This time he tried to hit both heroes, swinging his arms around like a madman. As Batman evaded the swings, he noticed another weak pipe on a wall directly behind Sandman and tried to throw a Batarang at it. Unfortunately, Sandman saw this coming and stopped it in mid air.

"Not this time." He said with a grin before swinging his hammer hand at him. Realising that he couldn't throw the batarang directly at it, Batman suddenly had an idea.

"Spider-Man! Catch!" He shouted as he threw another Batarang, but this time it was thrown directly at Spider-Man. Catching on quickly to his idea, Spider-Man let the batarang whiz past his shoulder before shooting a web at the weapon and hurling it at the pipe. This time, it made contact as water exploded out on impact. Sandman had watched helplessly as the batarang hit the pipe, so when the water came gushing out, it sprayed him in the face.

"Ahh! You'll pay for this!" He yelled while trying to spit out the water that got in his mouth. Once the water stopped, the heroes began their attack again. No matter how many times he tried to get a lucky shot in, Sandman could not get the heroes off him. Deciding to end the fight once and for all, Spider-Man crouched down and cupped his hands together as Batman jumped onto them and Spider-Man boosted him up. Batman was now at eye level with Sandman as he reached his arm back and struck him across the face.

Sandman collapsed on the ground and turned back into his regular form. He groaned in pain as he tried to get up, but only to fall back down unconscious.

"Come on, we still need to get to the telecom wires if we're going to access the National Criminal database." Batman said with urgency.

"Yeah yeah. Just give me a minute. I need to clean the sand out of my shorts." Spider-Man said as he sat down and took his boot off and held it upside down, causing sand spill out and onto the floor.


	15. Chapter 14

**Author's note: Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, school has been keeping me busy, but I found time to finally finish this chapter! Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Once Spider-Man was finished cleaning the sand out of his costume, the two heroes found themselves in the Water Treatment area of the sewers. They quickly maneuvered through the place, taking down any of Black Mask's men that stood in their way. They soon found themselves nearing the room where the GCPD telecom wires ran through, but as they moved closer where they could hear voices up ahead. They found themselves standing on a ledge of the end of the sewer pipeline where Black Mask's men were setting up bombs on a platform below them.

_We're under the GCPD. Why are Black Mask's men planting explosives here? The cops have always been on his payroll. _Batman thought to himself before gliding down and kicking one of the thugs into a wall with Spider-Man close behind him.

After all the criminals were laid out, Batman activated the lift to go up. They heard voices above them, obviously more of Black Mask's men seemed to be waiting for the guys that were now on the floor to finish planting the bombs..

"They're comin' up!"

"They're done already?"

"Must be."

"Alright, let's get ready to set the timers. And wake up Tiny."

To their surprise however, the only people awake on the lift were Spider-Man and Batman.

"Hey fellas. We're here to tell you the 10 reasons why you shouldn't plant bombs in sewers. Number one:" Spider-Man began before a thug tried to rush him before knocking him out cold with a swift punch to the face. "Any questions?"Soon, the others charged them, thinking they would walk out victors.

Two ninja thugs surrounded Batman while Spider-Man had to deal with a big guy and a regular thug. One of the martial artist tried to kick Batman in the stomach but was caught and was lifted in the air before Batman kicked him in the back and sent him flying towards Spider-Man. Spider-Man saw him coming and hit him with a spinning heel kick to the side once he was close enough and into a nearby wall, knocking him out.

Spider-Man tried to take out the bigger goon with a few hits to the stomach, but all that did was make him laugh and kick Spider-Man back a few feet. He then charged towards Spider-Man who luckily rolled out of the way. Unfortunately the poor thug behind him wasn't so lucky as the big guy ran him over, accidently putting him to sleep. In rage the goon tried to grab Spider-Man but was knocked off balance by something from behind. Behind him revealed that Batman had taken care of the other martial artist and had used his cape to stun the big guy. He was soon bombarded with a flurry of punches to the back and front by the duo. The heroes quickly finished him off with a drop kick to the back by Batman followed up by an uppercut by Spider-Man.

As soon as they were done, Alfred contacted them. "The telecom wires you're looking for run right through the chamber you two are in." He stated before hanging up.

The two walked over to the monitors and Batman placed his pwnbox into one the machines of the desk in front of them and began hacking.

"Alfred. Confirm we now have access to the National Criminal Database." Batman said.

"Connection confirmed. You can now perform DNA analysis. I'm also sending over the police file for the Lacey Towers case." He said as a holographic screen showing a photo of a man in a white suit appeared above Batman's gauntlet

"This photo is from the day of the murder. It's a perfect match. The DNA tells more of the story…" The screen changes to show the DNA from the crime scene. "But here's something the police overlooked. Roman Sionis owns the Gotham Merchant's Bank…" The screen changes again, this time showing a newspaper article of Roman and the Bank. "And he installed biometric security only he could access."

"Alfred, I have enough information to solve the Lacey towers case. Here's what happened."

"Ooooh, story time!" Spider-Man commented.

* * *

"By now, Gotham P.D. thinks Roman Sionis is dead, the casualty of a turf war. Murdered by The Penguin. But I know better. Someone spooked Sionis' girlfriend. So he sent her to his safe house…" "Let me guess, it was anything but safe." Spider-Man interrupted.

"So, Sionis showed up later, ready for trouble… And found it, right? Spider-Man asked.

Batman nodded. " Or so it seemed. Roman's always been paranoid. It's probably why he's lasted this long. He'd sent in a decoy giving himself the element of surprise… but it wasn't enough. There was a fight, Sionis lost. The killer didn't hesitate to shoot the decoy, but he wanted Roman alive, to access the cash stored at the Gotham Merchants Bank."

"So with Sionis under control all that was left was to tie up loose ends." Spider-Man continued, putting the pieces together.

"Correct, But it wasn't the fire that killed Sionis' girlfriend…" Realization suddenly spread across their faces. "What kind of monster forces a man to kill the ones he loves..? The Joker. He's the shadow we've been chasing. Now we know where we're going. Gotham Merchant's Bank." Batman finished.

* * *

"Alfred. See if you can find any information on someone named 'the Joker'."

"Searching now, sir. Humh… There doesn't seem to be anything coming up. What do you know about him?"

"Not much. But he's taken Black Mask hostage."

"Hostage? So Sionis isn't dead?"

" I don't think so. From what I can tell, he's worth more to the Joker alive. The Joker wants to use him to break into the Gotham Merchants Bank. We're on our way there now."

As they left the room, Spider-Man had a lingering thought on his mind. "So if the crime took place weeks ago, who was that at Blackgate?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out. C'mon, we should hurry." He answered as the two ran down the tunnels of the sewer before climbing up a ladder at the end of one of the tunnels. The two were in for a bit of a surprise, for when they exited the man-hole they saw three men wearing rabbit masks and holding guns, standing in front of a closed shutter door. The strangest thing about this encounter is when they started to sing.

"You are very cordially-"

"...cordially-"

"...cordially-"

...and dance?

"You are very cordially invited to a party."

"And it will be a grand affair -"

"...grand affair-"

"...grand affair-"

"And it will be a grand affair hosted by the Hatter!"

"We do hope that you can come -"

"...You can come-"

"...You can come-"

" We do hope that you can come to share in all the joy!"

Once they finished singing, the masks they were wearing somehow let out a powerful electrical charge and shocked the trio. As they fell to the ground, both Spider-Man and Batman received a call from someone over their communicators.

"Greetings and salutations, Batman and Spider-Man. I am Jervis Tetch, inventor, entrepreneur, and part-time haberdasher. You must be wondering why it is I sought you two out. Well. I have an employment opportunity I'd like to discuss with the both of you."

Suddenly, another wailed out in panic. " Help me! Please! If you can hear this, he's going to Mmmmmppppph."

"Oh. Don't mind Alice, poor dear. Her mind is all aflutter. And who can blame her, after all she's been through… But I'll have her right as rain soon enough. Don't you worry about that."

The call came to an abrupt end, leaving both superheroes confused.

_What...was that?_ Spider-Man thought to himself.

Batman quickly used his Cryptographic Sequencer on a nearby control panel to open the door. "Let's get going."

Spider-Man nodded as the two took off into the night.


End file.
